Conspiracy
by jcmoorehead
Summary: Asuka Sohryu is assigned to Tokyo 3 to work with fellow NERV Agent Shinji Ikari, after an incident involving a man named Sachiel and a woman called Rei Ayanami their lives are changed forever as they uncover the secrets behind NERV and themselves. [AU]
1. New Recruit

_April 11th 2015_

**Tokyo-3 Suburbs – 2100 hours**

Three seconds, an incredibly small amount of time, yet within the space of just three seconds it's amazing just what can happen. Of course many people would never take such a thing into consideration in a small suburb, just what can happen in three seconds? It wasn't a question that Haruka Itou had ever asked herself as she put her young daughter to bed that night. She tucked the young girl in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Night night, darling."

"Good night, mommy."

Haruka stood up and went over and turned off the light, smiling as she looked at her daughter sleeping peacefully, just as she had done for many years now. She silently closed the door, and that was when the screaming started.

_1…_

Haruka desperately tried to reopen the door only to find that somehow it had been locked from the inside, just as the screaming started a white glow seemed to fill the inside of the room.

_2…_

The glow kept on intensifying as she kept on trying to enter the room, only to find the handle was too hot to touch. The screaming subsided, along with the glow.

_3…_

Haruka was able to move back into her daughter's room, only to find it was empty. Shaking violently, she turned on the light and called out her daughter's name. She screamed as she was greeted with the sight of a trail of blood leading up to the closed window. Three seconds, that's all it takes for someone's life to fall apart.

_April 12th 2015_

**Nerv Headquarters - 0915 hours**

Asuka sighed heavily as she waited for the elevator to arrive to take her to the basement level of NERV headquarters. She had once been excited about the prospect of being transferred to the main NERV HQ and also being assigned to a special division, after all for a twenty seven year old agent to be sent to the main headquarters in Tokyo-3 after only being a few months out of the academy was a big achievement. Then she had heard just who she was working with, a man by the name of Shinji Ikari. When she first heard the name she had thought nothing of it, he'll just be your partner, we'll work together on cases and that'll be it, this was until she had heard the rumours.

Shinji was not an ordinary NERV Agent, he had been in NERV for a few years longer than she had, but was around the same age. After a bit of scouting around from fellow agents, Asuka had heard quite a few stories and nicknames for Shinji, none of them were putting him in a very good light. It wasn't that he was a bad agent, in fact he was very skilled and talented, it's just the way he acted. Shinji was one of those who believed in the paranormal and the extraterrestrial, he was also the one who had resurrected a long forgotten area of NERV.

It wasn't hard for her to understand why Shinji was the way he was, his mother disappeared when he was a young boy and he was subsequently abandoned by his father. Asuka could sympathize with that, she too had lost her mother at a young age but that didn't mean she went around blaming green men in the sky or uncovering god knows what in an abandoned area of NERV.

Asuka had read about the cases this area stored, unexplained phenomena, reports of abduction, reports of monsters and anything else that couldn't be explained through conventional means was just dumped there and forgotten about until one Shinji Ikari decided to reopen it. This bothered Asuka a lot, she wasn't what you would call open minded towards this sort of thing she preferred to stick with what could be proven and take a more scientific approach to solving cases. Of course she enjoyed a challenge but she wasn't intending to be in this section for long. She was beginning to question just why she of all people was assigned to this when the elevator finally arrived. Sighing heavily the young red head stepped inside towards her new assignment.

_Why do I have to be stuck with some idiot with his head up in space when I could be doing something useful for NERV?_

**Basement Offices – 0920 hours**

Shinji happily tapped his fingers on his desk to the beat of some song playing on the radio. He glanced at his watch and took another look at the case file in front of him, another disappearance in the Tokyo 3 suburbs. The fifth this month, this time it was a young girl. Her mother a Haruka Itou had contacted the police to report it, who, when they found nothing to discover how the child has gone missing, had called in NERV. Of course the case had attracted Shinji's attention and now he and his new partner, who would be arriving soon, were to be working on it.

At first glance the case seemed like a typical child abduction case, a simple matter of the intruder breaking into the house and abducting the child. However, when looked into in more detail there was much more to it. For a start there were no signs of an intruder entering or exiting the house, secondly there was a trail of blood leading from the bed to the window, yet nothing in the area outside the window and third the entire ordeal only took a matter of three seconds.

A few theories had already been passed around by other people, one of the most popular was that it was the mother who done it, but if that was the case then how come the other four cases were identical? Shinji himself had a theory after digging through case files relating to similar incidents fifteen years ago, and again fifteen years before that.

He neatly folded the files back into the case folder and awaited the arrival of his new partner who was at this moment just about to open the door to his office. As she walked in Shinji stood up ready to greet her.

Asuka walked into the room and looked around, she was surprised at how neat and tidy it was. When she worked in her previous assignment her desk was always full of case files, mugs of coffee and god knows what else, yet Shinji's desk was neat and tidy, not only that but the entire office was tidy and well organized.

"So you're the person they sent to check up on me?"

She stared up at him wondering just what he was talking about.

_Check up on him? Hold on does he think I'm here investigating him or something?_

"Eh?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter."

_Idiot_

He looked a lot different than she had imagined from what she had been told. She had expected him to look like those whacked out conspiracy theorists she had read about in papers, the ones who got high on marijuana all day and talked about how second impact was a government conspiracy to mass abduct thousands of people. Instead she was greeted with a young man around her age, with brown hair and brown eyes and was fairly well built to go with it.

Shinji too found himself surprised by Asuka's appearance. In his case he had expected someone in their mid forties and to look a lot older and miserable. Instead he got this red headed blue eyed young agent. Naturally this didn't stop Shinji's theory that she had been unwittingly sent here by the higher ups with the intention of closing this department down.

"Anyway, I'm Agent Ikari, welcome. I'm sure you've heard about me."

_He's not ignorant of his own fame at least._

"I have heard something, but that doesn't really matter. I'm Agent Sohryu."

He eyed her up and down once more and then spoke again.

"Well I'm sure you're wondering what we will be doing in this department."

Asuka nodded slightly, she had heard a brief explanation but wanted to see if Shinji could make it sound any less stupid.

"We investigate the cases that no one else really wants to, the ones that have no logical explanation or conclusion. We also look into cases which involve unexplained phenomena reports, like UFO Abductions, that sort of thing."

Shinji's explanation made it sound a little more sane but she still thought the guy was deluded if he thought they could somehow solve cases that others could. Still she enjoyed a challenge and would show just how good an agent she was and then be out of this department as soon as possible.

"I can tell by the look on your face you're not really too happy about being here, but I'm sure the higher ups will recognize your work after a few cases and then you'll be out of here. Then it'll most likely be shut down and everyone will be happy."

_Except me of course but what does that matter to other people?_

Asuka frowned at Shinji's last comment.

_Wow this guy doesn't really have much confidence in himself._

"Don't be an idiot, my intention isn't to see you get shut down or anything I'm just here to work. So what's our first case then?"

For the first time that morning Asuka noticed Shinji smiling genuinely. She wasn't sure if it was because of what she had just said or because of what he was about to show her, but either way it made her feel a bit better about being there. She watched him as he opened up a folder on his desk and lay out several photo's. Each one showing a child's room, a puddle of blood on the bed and also leading up towards the window.

"I'm guessing you already know what these photo's are?"

She studied the photo's for a few moments before replying in a very matter of fact way.

"Of course these are the disappearances of the children in the suburbs to the east of Tokyo-3, the media has been all over these incidents."

"Close, but look again at the photos."

She studied the photo's again not quite sure what Shinji was talking about. She looked at each one closely counting each one as she went through them.

_One… Two… Three…Four... Five… Six… Seven_

As she hit the seventh photo that was when it hit her, there had only been five disappearances covered in the media.

"There are seven of them, so that means there have been two more victims?"

"Close again, except these photo's are from a series of disappearances in 1985, in what we know as Tokyo-1."

"1985? So why are you showing me case files from 1985?"

"Same reason I'm about to show you these."

Asuka glared at Shinji as he put all the photos into a pile and then took seven more images out of the folder and laid them out across the table. She counted them all in order then compared them to the pile of photos on the desk.

"These ones are different."

"Of course, these ones were taken in 2000 a few months before second impact in the city of Osaka."

He piled up the seven photos again and then took five more photos out of the folder.

"These are the disappearances that have been in the media lately, the five disappearances of the children in the suburbs of Tokyo-3. In each case the parent has said that they put their child to bed then they heard screaming, a bright light and then three seconds later it was all over and this is what was found."

He put the photos back into the folder before continuing to speak.

"When I looked through the files for the cases fifteen and thirty years ago each one had the same pattern. Child is put to bed, and then three seconds later they're gone, leaving behind only a trail of blood. In each one the police have never found any traces of entry to the room and the children have never turned up again."

Asuka let all the information soak in and then turned her mind to coming up with a solution to what was happening. In murder cases or abduction cases it was common to see the killer or abductor sticking to some form of pattern, it was how they worked, but for something to date back almost thirty years was a bit farfetched for her. The big question was that if it was the same person then why wait fifteen years between each series of abductions, which led to the most logical explanation.

"Ok, so clearly it's either the same people or group or people working on some form of pattern, or it's a copycat."

"Makes sense but if it's a person or group it stills leaves several things unexplained, for example the bright light or the fact that there are no signs of entry."

"Ok, so what do you suggest?"

"Reports of alien abduction are in a similar manner, a bright light envelops the victim and takes them away. There is also the possibility that it's some sort of cult, in each case it's been single mothers losing their son's or daughters which points to the fact that all these ladies are involved in some sort of cult there at a certain time. Seven of them are selected to sacrifice their children to appease some sort of god or demon."

"But this is Tokyo-3 and it's not exactly known for its cult activity, and I seriously hope you're not about to tell me this is some sort of abduction case."

"That's what we're going to find out, we've been assigned this case and we're going to the site of the last abduction."

"What do you hope to find?"

"I don't know yet, that's why we're going."

Asuka watched as Shinji put on his suit jacket and walked over towards the door, she was intrigued by the way he acted, he certainly seemed dedicated to the job even though he was, as she saw him to be, a bit strange. Maybe this new assignment would work out for her anyway, the case certainly didn't seem weird enough, the police in Tokyo-3 were well known for being a bit slow and overlooking things.

**Tokyo-3 Suburbs – 1000 hours**

When Shinji and Asuka pulled up outside the Itou residence they found the house itself cordoned off with police tape and representatives from the media swarming around, trying to get interviews with the residents, police officers and anyone else passing by. Shinji sighed in disgust as he spotted one person trying to get a word with the clearly distressed mother.

"Disgusting, is there anyone they won't try to talk to?"

"Probably not, we'd better get inside the house before they start trying to talk to us."

Shinji nodded as he shut the car door. The two of them made their way over to the police officer guarding the entranceway to the house.

"Sorry no ent… oh you're from NERV?"

Shinji held up his NERV ID Card.

"Agent's Shinji Ikari and Asuka Sohryu, we're here to investigate this case."

"In that case, go on in, we've already been through the house and found nothing though."

Shinji nodded and the two of them entered the house. As they entered, Shinji took a quick look around the entrance area, not really looking for anything in particular.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing really, just scratches on the doorway or something like that."

"What, so now we're looking for an animal?"

"I didn't say that, it's just we have to consider every option."

Asuka sighed heavily as Shinji turned away and went into the living room.

_Ok I take it back, this guy is definitely a weirdo._

She then moved into the living room and saw Shinji talking to Mrs. Itou.

"Mrs. Itou, we're from NERV, we've been assigned the case of finding out exactly what happened to your daughter. We'd just like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay?"

"Y-Yes, go ahead."

Asuka just watched on in silence.

"Okay, on the night of her disappearance did you notice anything strange happening."

"Strange?"

"Yes, a rustling in the bushes, TV's turning to static or any strange visions regarding your daughter."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"I..."

Asuka slapped her hand on her forehead and interrupted Shinji.

"Mrs. Itou, its fine, you don't have to answer anything yet, could you please excuse me and Agent Ikari."

"Uhh, sure"

Haruka moved out of the room, leaving a furious Asuka glaring at Shinji, who was just looking down at the ground.

"Are you completely stupid? What are you doing asking if she's seen any visions or anything, this is real life not some silly Sci-Fi TV show. Next thing you'll be asking if she's seen a giant of light in the neighborhood."

"Sorry I was just as..."

"Don't bother apologizing, let's just get on with the case. We should take a look at the kid's room."

Shinji nodded and got up, slightly reeling a bit from Asuka being angry with him.

_Doesn't matter anyway it's not like it makes a difference if we solve this case or not, it's just going to come to the same conclusion for me._

Shinji was fully aware of how he was seen in NERV and how many people thought he had thrown what could have been a brilliant career away by delving into something like this, but he preferred it that way. He'd rather be someone working on his own than in a group of people, and besides, with his beliefs were shunned by most people anyway. He had been the same way since he was younger, shunning contact with others, he had only ever had one girlfriend and that was an awkward experience when he was about eighteen. It had really started when he lost his mother in a tragic accident many years ago and then his father simply abandoned him and left him under the care of his uncle. This had led to Shinji having a severe lack of confidence in himself and what he did, the only thing he had ever been truly determined about was what he was currently working on and even then as soon as he started he was sure the higher ups in NERV wanted to shut him down.

_What's wrong with doing something I want to do?_

He made his way up to the girl's bedroom and saw Asuka kneeling down over the puddle of blood and examining the trail leading up to the window. Shinji watched as she got up and moved over towards the window.

_She doesn't like being around me, after this case I'll write a report to the director saying how good her work is and recommend she's transferred to somewhere better. It'll be best for both of us._

Looking back over towards the blood he noticed Asuka suddenly turn around to look at him.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Eh? What?"

She sighed and repeated what she had just said.

"Come and take a look at this trail, I think we might have found something that everyone else missed."

He walked over and knelt beside her.

"It's blood?"

"That's what it looks like at first glance but take a look a bit closer. If it was blood it would have dried up by now and wouldn't have pooled like it has in these sections."

She pointed out the sections to him.

"Also take a look at it a bit closer, it's hard to notice but its lighter then blood. It's got more of an orange tint to it."

He looked at her, unsure of what she was implying.

"So, what are you suggesting?"

"I'm not sure yet, but whatever left this trail behind, it wasn't from the daughter. I need to take a sample of this back to the NERV Labs, then we can take a closer look at what it is."

She reached into her jacket pockets and pulled out a small tube used to collect liquids. Asuka then moved over towards the bed and took a small sample of the blood before holding it up to the light.

"This is definitely not blood."

"If it's not blood then how come no ones spotted it until now?"

"No one has probably looked, you hear about a girl going missing, you see a red liquid on the floor and you assume its blood. There's not need to look any closer or test it because it seems so obvious."

Shinji was surprised at how easily Asuka was able to recognize it, he had studied the case files repeatedly and even he was unable to spot that fact. Maybe there was hope for them solving this case yet.

"Ok we'll check out the back garden see if we can find anything there, then we'll get this back to the labs."

**Itou Residence Back Garden – 1015 hours**

Shinji stepped out into the garden and immediately turned and looked up at the house. He kept his eyes on the window at the top left of the house and then looked down at the floor. He did this a few more times until he caught Asuka looking at him in a funny way.

"What are you doing? Looking at where the mother ship could have landed?"

"Very funny, no I'm just wondering, that's the girls bedroom right?"

"Yes…"

"Ok so how does something open that window, take the kid, get back out the window, close the window and escape with the kid in the space of three seconds when said window is all the way up there?"

"Well like you said, isn't that what we're here to investigate?"

"Ok, so let's look around, I'll take a look in the forest area."

Asuka nodded as Shinji made his way over towards the back of the garden and through the gate into a small woodland area. The forest made the house an ideal location for the abduction to take place, it made perfect sense. The person would get into the house, take the kid and flee through the forest. Yet it made no sense that the person got into the kids bedroom and was able to flee making it look like no one had entered aside from the obvious liquid trail.

He walked a bit further into the forest when he came to a clearing, it was a perfect circular clearing, almost as if it could be used for a campsite. Shinji was about to turn and head in the opposite direction when he spotted the figure of a man standing within the trees. He put his hand on his gun and shouted out towards the man.

"Hey you, what are you doing in this area?"

No reply came from the person, instead the figure began to run away from the clearing and from Shinji. Immediately, Shinji started running after the person.

"Stop right there, I'm a NERV Agent."

Shinji chased the man for what seemed like ten minutes until he came to another clearing, not dissimilar to the one he was in before, except now there was no sign of the man. He was about to continue running after him when Asuka came out of the trees directly in front of him.

"Agent Ikari, what are you doing?"

"There's someone out here, he just ran in the direction you came from."

"But how? I never saw anyone and I've just came directly from the Itou backyard."

Shinji looked up at her confused, he had just ran in a straight line directly from the Itou backyard, so how could he have emerged from the opposite side if he had ran in a straight line?

"Is everything alright, Agent Ikari?"

"I… I just chased him directly from a clearing into this one, in a straight line directly from the Itou backyard."

"That's impossible, I told you I've just came from there."

"I'm telling you, that's what happened."

"He must have led you in a circle or something it's not a big forest if you had ran in a straight line you'd be on a main road by now."

"I suppose you're right, let's go."

Shinji moved over towards Asuka when just as he got to the center of the clearing he noticed something on the floor near him.

"Agent Langley, take a look at this."

"What is it?"

Shinji moved some of the leaves out of the way revealing what appeared to be a piece of paper with a child's handwriting on it, on the corner of the page was a dried orange liquid. On the center of the page was the word…

_Sachiel…_


	2. Sachiel

**Basement Offices – 1400 hours**

Shinji studied the piece of paper one more time and turned back to his computers monitor, looking down the list of search results. He clicked on a link and looked at the text that appeared on the screen It told him nothing new, only the same thing he had seen on the other thirty sites he had looked at, that Sachiel was the name of the Angel of Water. He pushed his keyboard and went back to waiting for Asuka to return from getting the liquid sample they had found and analyzed.

Shinji had even looked over past case records in the NERV Database and the word Sachiel had never appeared once. It was a complete dead end as regards the name and there didn't seem to be any reason why the abductor would choose such a name.

_I just hope Agent Sohryu has had more luck then me._

Just at that moment the door to the office opened up and Asuka stepped through, clutching a folder and looking fairly displeased. She took off her jacket and hung it up, she then threw the folder down on her desk, cleared some of Shinji's junk off of it and pulled out a sandwich before eating. Shinji observed her silently, quite astonished that the woman had not even acknowledged his presence once within that entire minute it took her to storm into the room and then move to her lunch. He opened his mouth to speak.

"So how di..."

Asuka slammed her sandwich down on the table and snarled at him.

"Don't ask…"

"I see you're in a good mood then."

He smiled at her, but it was promptly wiped from his face when she gave him a look that might just have killed him. She then went back to eating her sandwich but this time continued talking.

"I did what you suggested, I went to the labs to get the stupid liquid analyzed, so they tell me they can't fit me in for another hour so I sit there waiting patiently. Then I get sent through and this perverted scientist keeps on staring at my breasts and even has the nerve to invite me out for dinner after it. This was a guy who at that moment had his hand wrist deep in some ones torso of course. God I hate people sometimes."

Shinji nodded, quite shocked at her outburst, he was just about to ask about the results when she continued.

"I decline and he just shrugs his shoulders and begins to analyze the liquid we found. I'm standing around for another hour waiting for him to run all these tests, every so often he makes this 'umm' and 'ahh' noises and keeps on saying 'hmm that's interesting' and do you know what he tells me at the end of it all, after all that?"

"Umm no, what?"

"It's like blood… but it's not…"

Shinji simply shook his head and looked over at her.

"It's like blood… but it's not?"

"Yes, so then I asked him to run it against the database of known species and the results found nothing. Of course that took another half an hour, I swear to god I could have ran those tests myself. I trained as a doctor, it's not exactly difficult."

"I didn't know that…"

"Well you do now, so anyway that found nothing so I had wasted about two and a half hours of my life for no reason and then because I didn't take the car I had to walk home and as soon as I stepped out it started raining so now I'm wet, cold, hungry and pissed off."

Shinji nodded again, himself being quite angry that they were no nearer to solving the case than they were at the start of the day. He decided to turn over his findings to Asuka.

"Well I looked up the name of our suspect 'Sachiel' to see it's meaning and to see if it had appeared in any other cases."

"And..?"

"I found nothing, although I do know that Sachiel is the name of the Angel of Water now so at least I've learnt something today."

She sighed and looked over at him, she felt a bit better about her being unable to come up with anything, now that she knew Shinji had found nothing himself. She wondered why their suspect would choose a name like Sachiel, what would the Angel of Water have to do with this. Maybe it related to something else, there were three huge lakes nearby, maybe they would find something there.

"The lakes…"

Shinji looked up from his computer.

"Huh?"

"You said Sachiel is the name for the Angel of Water didn't you?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well if we're looking for an Angel of Water maybe the lakes on the outskirts of the city would be a good place to start."

He looked over at her dumbly, how could he have not even thought of that?

"Good idea"

"Of course it's a good idea, it's one of mine."

He laughed and put away the folder containing the files collected on the case and prepared himself to go. He was beginning to warm up to the idea of having a partner, although he was still pretty sure that the department wouldn't last much longer after she filed her reports on him.

**Lakes – 1530 hours**

The ongoing storm had picked up in ferocity as the two Agent's car pulled up. Shinji stepped out and took a look around, just as lightning flashed through the sky. He felt himself sinking into the mud around him and closed the car door, Asuka did the same and moved around to the same side. Off in the distance, the shadow of Tokyo-3 could be seen along with what seemed to be an endless stretch of forest.

The area they were in consisted of three lakes, each one surrounded by forest. During the summer it used to be a popular spot for families to go out to, however due to an incident two years ago when a group of people became sick with something from the water, the amount of people that came out had diminished. Now it was mostly avoided, except by teenagers out drinking and, or as Shinji suspected, cultists using the forests for their own cause.

Asuka felt herself shiver as she looked at the entrance to the first lake, a part of her wanted to be back in the office drinking coffee and discussing the case. The other part of her had a feeling that there was something here that they needed to see. She reached into her coat and pulled out her pistol, making sure it was loaded. She observed as Shinji did the same. They both stepped forward towards the gateway when something caught her eye.

"Shinji, come and take a look at this"

"What is it?"

They both made their way over to what she had noticed and peered down at it. Sections of the grass had been burnt away but it was not in any random formation, instead it appeared to be some sort of downward pointing triangle split in half. On the left half were what appeared to be three eyes, and on the right hand side four eyes. Each side positioned in a column formation. Shinji pulled out a small digital camera and took a photo of the formation. He then turned to Asuka.

"Recognize it?"

"Not at all, you're the expert for this sort of thing."

"I'll scan it in and see if I can find anything that matches it, but I've never seen anything like this before, looks like you were correct though, there is something here."

"Of course I was correct, did you expect anything less?"

"We'd better move on then."

Shinji stood up and looked at the path leading through the forest, he easily climbed over the gate and Asuka followed suit. They entered the main public pathway and were shielded slightly from the rain by the towering trees around them. Unfortunately, this also meant it was slightly darker and harder to see. Shinji pulled a small torch from the inside of his jacket and aimed it at the ground in front of them.

"It's unusually dark for this time of the year, isn't it?"

Asuka wasn't too sure if Shinji meant anything by saying this or if he was just making a random comment.

"I guess so, maybe that's the mother ship blocking out the sun."

Shinji stopped and shook his head, he also had to admit he was feeling slightly hurt by her reply. Just as he had thought she was beginning to slightly understand him and the cases he worked on, she had gone and made a comment like that. He made the further mistake of trying to apologize.

"Sorry, I was just saying."

Asuka recognized the hurt in his voice and looked down at the ground, she didn't mean to upset him. She was supposed to be a professional and she didn't want to have him hate her.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything, I'm sorry for making the comment."

They both resumed walking through the forest, the further in they got the darker it became. After a while, Asuka pulled out her torch and also began to hold onto her gun a bit tighter. After a few more minutes of walking they came across a section where the path split into two.

"Guess we'll have to split up, I'll take the Eastern Lake, you take the Western, we'll meet back here in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good to me."

Asuka watched how Shinji put his pistol back in its holster and headed towards the Eastern Lake. She wondered if he was still a bit angry at her joke earlier. She was about to head towards the western lake when her cellphone went off. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket and looked at the caller ID.

'_Unrecognized Number… strange.'_

She accepted the call and put the phone to her ear, just as she was about to speak into it a high pitched noise from all around her cut her off. Her torch began to flicker and the cell phone switched itself off and on repeatedly. After a few more moments of this everything returned to normal, leaving Asuka wondering just what had just happened.

'_Maybe Shinji is on to something with these theories of his…"_

**Eastern Lake**

Shinji felt himself trembling as he made his way towards the lake, although it wasn't with fear. He was trembling with anger and maybe a hint of sadness, he couldn't explain why but Asuka's comment earlier had hurt him. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to people speaking about him as if he was a joke, but when Asuka had said that it seemed to hurt a little more than usual.

_I didn't ask for her to be put here, she doesn't need to act like that._

Shinji had been contemplating retiring from NERV, even though he had only been there for a few years. He knew it was only a matter of time before the higher ups at NERV closed his section down and when that was done he had no other reason to be there, he could leave and get a job elsewhere, somewhere where he wasn't, as he saw it, a walking joke.

He continued walking through the forest until he eventually found himself at the lake, he looked out across the vastness of the water when he noticed something strange towards the center. It was as if there was a glow emanating from the center of the lake. There was no way he could make it out to the center of the lake, he pulled out his camera and tried to take a picture of the glow, however every image he took just appeared to be messed up, almost as if someone had burnt a hole through them.

Moving around to an old pier, he noticed something lying on the ground, he kneeled down to examine it further and noticed it was a shred of clothing. He picked the shred up and put it in a plastic bag he had with him for collecting evidence, however when he looked out among the lake again he noticed that the glow from the center had began moving towards him. He stepped backwards slowly and drew out his pistol, ready for whatever it was that was approaching him. As the glow got closer, a man began to step out of the lake, he didn't appear to be much older then Shinji, maybe around his mid thirties. The man had jet black hair and was of a fairly muscular build. Shinji aimed his pistol directly at where the man's heart was as he continued walking towards him.

"Stop right where you are, I'm a NERV Agent."

The person stopped and smiled at him.

"So you're the person they have doing their dirty work for them?"

"Who are you and what are you talking about?"

"My name is not important although you will probably know me as Sachiel and I am the third."

"The third what? I don't understand."

"So you don't know what I am? The Committee won't be happy someone else has encountered me then. I guess I should save them the hassle of killing you then."

"Move one step and I'll shoot."

The person known as Sachiel simply laughed and stepped forward, almost immediately Shinji fired two shots directly at him. He stepped back in shock as a barrier of light appeared straight in front of Sachiel and the bullets simply ricocheted to the ground.

"What… What are you?"

"I am the third, and what you just saw was known as my A.T. Field…"

"A.T. Field?"

Sachiel opened his mouth to speak again when out of nowhere a gunshot fired again except this time it went directly through his A.T. Field and into his arm.

"Wha... That's impossible."

Shinji looked to his right to see who his savior was and then he saw her. She emerged from the cover of the trees and fired two more shots into Sachiel, sending him falling back. Shinji took this moment to get a good look at the girl, she appeared to be about his age and was wearing a plain white latex body suit of some form. Shinji also noticed that the girl had unusually pale skin and blue hair, there was also something else about the girl's face he couldn't quite place. He continued watching as Sachiel fell to his knees and looked up at the girl with a smile on his face and blood trickling down from his mouth.

"So, you're what they sent after me."

The girl spoke softly before firing a final shot into Sachiel's forehead.

"Goodbye."

Shinji stepped forward out of the forest he was in and approached the blue haired girl.

"Who… Who are you?"

"I cannot tell you that, I am sorry."

"Sorry what for?"

"This."

The girl brought out a strange looking device and plunged it directly into Shinji's chest. An Immense Pain shot through his body as he collapsed to the floor. The last thing he remembered seeing were several men in masks and white coats bearing the same 7 eyed logo he saw earlier, kneeling down next to him.

**Western Lake**

Asuka put her cell phone back into her pocket and resumed her course to the western lake disturbed by what had just happened. As she walked, she began to think about what Shinji had said earlier about her being sent to check up on him. She wondered how he could have come up with such a thing, considering she was a new recruit and it was definitely not her intention to get him pushed out.

'_What an idiot for saying such a thing, I may not agree with him but I'm not going to try to get the area shut down. I'm just going to show how good of a job I can do so I can be out of there as soon as possible. At least he's better than the last person I had to work with and no where near as perverted.'_

She finally reached the lake and looked around using her torch to examine the area around her. Moving around to the edge of the lake, something briefly caught her eye, it was what appeared to be a child's backpack. She knelt down beside it to take a closer look at the contents. Inside were various drawings done by children, around eighteen in total. Half of them had a drawing of a strange looking beast on them and others had the words Sachiel written on them.

She was about to collect them for evidence when she heard gunfire ring out from the eastern lake. She immediately leapt to her feet and muttered to herself before running off towards the lake.

'_Guess I was right about this place'._

Five more gunshots rang out and then complete silence as she found herself back in the clearing her and Shinji had split up in. She drew out her pistol and then headed towards the source of the shots, she had barely taken three steps when a huge blinding light covered her. She looked up at the source of the light and straight into the search light of a black helicopter.

'_What the hell?'_

The chopper hovered over her for a few moments before setting off towards the eastern lake as well. Immediately, Asuka began sprinting towards the lake, wondering what the chopper was doing and what had just occurred.

When she arrived at the lake she found the area was abandoned, there was no sign of anyone or anything. No Shinji, no helicopter and no one firing any weapons. She clutched her pistol a bit tighter and withdrew her flashlight again, scanning the area. She was about to give up when she noticed her flashlight bouncing off of something in the grass, she slowly made her way towards it and noticed it was Shinji's NERV ID and it appeared to be covered in the same liquid they had found at the Itou residence earlier.

Her heart began to pound in her body as she pulled out her cell phone to try to contact Shinji. She pressed the speed dial she had set up earlier in the day and waited for the phone to begin ringing.

"_The phone you have called is currently switched off, please try again later."_

'_What the hell, he had it on when we came out here. Where the hell is he and what just happened out here?'_

Asuka checked her watch to see the time and noticed something peculiar about the time. When they had came out here it was half three in the afternoon but according to her watch it was now half seven at night.

'_Stupid thing, technological enhancements my ass'_

She checked her cell phone for the time but noticed it said exactly the same thing.

'_This is getting stupid, no way can that much time have passed'_

Asuka picked up Shinji's ID card and put it in her pocket, but not before taking another sample of the red liquid to ensure it was the same as that found earlier. She then decided to give the lake another sweep before heading back to NERV to see if Shinji had somehow made his way back.

**Offices – 2000 hours**

When Asuka arrived back at the Office the first thing she noticed was that the entire office had been ransacked. She quickly dashed over to Shinji's desk and noticed all the case files they had been studying earlier were scattered around the desk and also on the floor. Looking through them she saw that none of them were missing, she then looked towards the folder they were using for the current case only to notice it had vanished from the desk.

She dashed over to her own desk and switched her computer on, trying to find the files she had saved earlier, holding the lab results. She logged on and went to the folder she had the results saved in only to find every single file on the system had been corrupted. She slammed her fist down on the desk in frustration as every single thing in the case they had found or worked out had been lost in the space of half an hour. The fact that her partner had suddenly vanished only added to the anger.

Just as she was about to pick up the phone to call the deputy director to report Shinji's disappearance and the sudden ransacking of the office the phone on Shinji's desk began to ring. Asuka carefully walked over to it and scanned the caller ID only to see it was an Unknown ID. She picked up the phone and a man's voice could be heard on the other end, it sounded as if the other person was using some sort of masking to hide his real voice.

"_Agent Sohryu is that you?"_

"Yes, who is this?"

"_I cannot tell you that, however what I can tell you is I have some information you might find useful."_

"I'm not in the mood to play games, tell me who you are or I'm hanging up."

"_Now now Asuka, I'm sure the sudden death of your working partner wouldn't look too good for your first day on the job now would it."_

"What do you know about Agent Ikari and my job?"

"_I know quite a lot about you both, more importantly I know where he is being held but I need you to do me a favor."_

"I don't have time for this, tell me what you know."

"_He is being held in a location on the outskirts of time by people you don't want to get involved with. I can get you in there if you agree to my terms."_

"And what terms would those be?"

"_Inside the building he is in there is an item I need you to take, it's a diskette. I need you to take it and leave it outside the building when you exit."_

"And why should I do this?"

"_You want your partner to live don't you?"_

"Why should I trust you?"

"_You shouldn't trust anyone Asuka, but at this moment in time you have no choice. The details of where he is being held are in your top desk drawer, along with the keycard you will need to enter the complex. However, the keycard will only activate when you agree to my terms."_

"Ok then, where is the disk?"

"_It will be where Shinji is."_

"What do you me…?"

A click was heard on the other end of the line as Asuka was cut off from the unknown person. She wandered over to her desk again and opened the top drawer, revealing a plain brown envelope, she opened the envelope and took out the contents, a map to a facility just out of the city and a keycard with her photo on it.

'_What the… how was he able to get this?'_

**Unknown Location – Office – 2100 hours**

"The second is on her way now, she is under the illusion that the item she has to take will be of some use."

"Good work, now onto other matters, is the first secured?"

"Yes he is, but are you sure you want to go through with this, Ikari? He is your own son after all."

The man who had just been asked looked directly ahead, from behind his folded hands, a hint of a smile could be seen creeping onto his face.

"We have already been through this Fuyutsuki, they have been chosen by the Committee, our job is just to inject them and that will be all."

"That will be all? Gendo, he is your son, you have seen the effect of the serum on the others, do you really want to agree to this?"

"My decision has already been made, send in Dr .Akagi."

"Yes, Sir."

Fuyutsuki tapped a button on Gendo's desk, a few moments later a blonde woman in a white lab coat entered the room carrying a clipboard.

"Dr. Akagi, how are the preparations going?"

"We are ready to inject him with the serum now, we have made modifications to the serums used on him and the other female test subject. They will not be capable of producing an A.T. Field, they will however be able to neutralize them when within a range.

"Good, that is all that is required, inform me when both have been injected."

"Yes, Sir."

She immediately turned around and headed back out the door, leaving the office in semi darkness once again.

**Unknown Location – Entrance – 2100 hours**

Asuka sighed heavily as she pulled up outside the facility, she stepped out of the car and looked around making sure no one had followed her. She quickly moved towards the entrance holding the ID she had been sent tightly. To her surprise she was greeted by a Doctor in a White Labcoat outside the facility.

"You must be Agent Sohryu, I take it you received the documents?"

"Uhh, yes."

"We were expecting you, sorry about the secrecy but with this being a military facility we have to make sure we can trust people."

"Right, so where is Agent Ikari?"

"He is currently recovering, we were lucky we found him when we did, you see the area you were both in was home to a rather deadly strain of virus that was accidentally let out. You might have noticed the symbol we left outside, which quite simply was a marker telling us where to look."

"A virus?"

"I cannot say anything else, but everything has been sorted out now, unfortunately we are going to have to inject you with a vaccine against this virus before we let you near Shinji. He has already been vaccinated but he is very weak at the moment, so exposure to it might cause a relapse."

The doctor led Asuka into the facility and towards a small room in one of the corridors, she withdrew a needle and motioned for Asuka to take her jacket off. Asuka wondered just what sort of place this was and what type of virus the doctor was talking about.

"What type of place is this?"

"This is a research lab funded by the government, we are researching cures to different diseases."

"We were investigating something near those lakes, you don't know anything about the name Sachiel do you."

Asuka watched the doctor as she began to prepare the injection, it was at that moment she could have sworn she saw a hint of recognition in the Doctors eyes at the mention of the name Sachiel. The Doctor quickly injected Asuka and then replied.

"No, never heard of it, anyway I'm finished, now I can show you to Agent Ikari."

"Thanks."

She led her down a few more corridors into another room where she saw Shinji sitting up in a bed, looking down at the floor. As she entered Shinji looked over at her and smiled.

"They told me about the virus and everything, sorry if I scared you out there by disappearing so suddenly."

"Its fine, what happened? I heard gunshots."

"That was me, I thought I saw something but they said the virus makes you hallucinate. They said I was lucky I didn't turn the gun on myself."

Asuka studied him carefully as he spoke, there was something about the way he said this. His eyes showed deep sadness and the words seemed a little too rehearsed.

"So you didn't see anything?"

"Nothing."

'_Bullshit'_

"Agent Sohryu…"

"Yes."

"Can we go now? I'm not really a big fan of hospitals."

"Sure."

Shinji stood up and walked over to the doorway, Asuka was about to follow him when she noticed something on the table near him, it was a small diskette. she looked around ensuring there were no cameras or other people and quickly picked up the disk and put it into her pocket. Just as she did so she noticed Shinji still standing at the doorway leaning against it slightly and looking very pale.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, let's just go."

'_Something happened to him and he's not telling me anything'_


	3. No Stone Unturned

_April 19th 2015_

**Basement Offices – 0930 hours**

It had been a week since what had became known as the Sachiel incident, much to Asuka's amazement both her and Shinji had been credited with solving the case. All the bodies of the children had been recovered at the lakes along with the body of the man calling himself Sachiel. It was revealed that the man was a forty three year old Caucasian male whose identity had not been revealed. Shinji had not spoken to Asuka about the case, except to clear up details of what happened before they went to the lakes and when Asuka picked him up from the medical facility later that night. As far as Asuka was concerned that time they were at the lakes may as well have not happened for Shinji as he had not spoke about it at all, even when she asked.

The other thing which struck Asuka as bizarre was how when she returned to the office the next day there was no trace at all of the break in, it was almost as if it never happened. When she enquired about it there appeared to be no evidence of a break in but also the vial of liquid she took from the scene had also vanished, she was told that the entire thing might have been due to being under the influence of the virus at the lakes. It was an explanation she did not buy one bit but she had nothing to prove otherwise. The diskette she had taken from the facility had also vanished without a trace, leaving her with nothing to put into her report of the case except the basics of the course, such as how they were able to find the note then go onto the lakes and the events since then.

Still, she was happy she had been commended and she was also, in a way, happy for Shinji that the department would live on another day. She felt a sense of pride as she waited for the elevator to go down to the office. The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened revealing the corridor to the office. She strode down and came to the door and went to open it only to find it was locked.

'_That idiot has remembered I work here too hasn't he?'_

She knocked on the door and waited for a response, only to receive nothing at all. She sighed impatiently and knocked again once again, receiving no response. Her morning happiness quickly turning to slight anger, she delved into her pockets and pulled out the key to the office. Quickly slamming it into the keyhole she turned the key and opened the door and stepped into the office.

'_Oh great, the idiot isn't here, and he told me he had something important to show me as well.'_

Asuka went to sit down at her desk when she noticed the light on Shinji's answering machine flashing. Curiosity got the better of her as the casually walked over to the machine and pressed the play button. Immediately Shinji's voice began to play over the machine.

"_Hello Asuka, sorry I'm not there at the moment but I've already had to leave. I'm at the thing I wanted to show you, meet me at the park over by the northern subway station, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to as well."_

Asuka felt her anger rise as Shinji's message played, after all it had only been half an hour since he had told her to meet him urgently in the office and now he was asking her to go all the way across town. She walked over to her desk and put her jacket back on before muttering to herself.

'_Stupid idiot making me go all the way across town, this had better be something interesting.'_

**Northern District – 0945 hours**

Shinji awaited the arrival of Asuka by the entrance to the park gates, he had been careful not to reveal to Asuka exactly what he had to show her as the circumstances were too bizarre to be put into words. He was unsure of how Asuka was going to react to it. Despite them having to have worked together for just over a week now and all the times they had to speak to their superiors about what had happened he still didn't know what to make of the red headed woman. He was grateful to her for helping him out and also giving the department another chance to stay around but he felt bad about not telling her what had happened a week ago.

'_She already thinks I'm crazy, if I start telling her about what I saw then I don't even want to know what'll happen. Besides, it's no use telling her, it's not like she'll believe me.'_

He sighed as he saw Asuka's car pull up in front of him and he readied himself for Asuka's barrage when she exited the car. Another thing he had quickly learnt about her was that she seemed to have a very short temper and one wrong word seemed to set her off. Still, what he had to show her was incredibly important and related to the department so this shouldn't annoy her too much.

Asuka stepped out of the car and looked around, the first thing she saw was Shinji looking over at the car, behind him were various police officers walking around as well as another woman in a suit similar to hers, who she didn't recognize. Oddly enough, she noticed police tape surrounding a huge boulder and a crane standing nearby. She walked over to Shinji with a confused look on her face.

"What's going on?"

"I think you need to see for yourself but there's someone I'd like to introduce you to first."

The two agents entered the park and walked over to the police tape and quickly ducked under it after showing the officer guarding it their NERV ID's. Immediately after they ducked under it the woman in the suit looked over at them and quickly moved towards them.

"Agent Sohryu, I presume?"

Asuka was now able to look at the woman a bit better. The first thing that stood out about her was the fact that she had purple hair, the second was that she appeared to have a NERV ID, however Asuka could not make out the details on it.

"Yeah that's right, and you are?"

"Director of Operations Misato Katsuragi, I've just been assigned to the Tokyo-3 branch of NERV."

"I see, so how come you're out on the field?"

"I'm here unofficially actually, I used to know Shinji when he was younger and was his guardian when his uncle died up until the point he entered the NERV Academy."

"Oh, I see."

Shinji blushed slightly as Misato explained to Asuka about how she came to be his guardian. It had come as quite a surprise to Shinji when he learnt that Misato would in effect be his new boss, he had known her for near enough thirteen years, however they had not been in contact with each other for at least four years. Misato had always been good to him and she was pretty much the closest thing he had to a mother since his own had died.

She also seemed to be the only person who didn't abandon him, not for lack of Shinji trying. When she took him in after his uncle died he had tried all he could to get away, even running away once but she had always been there for him. He never quite understood why but he assumed it had something to do with Misato's own upbringing, when she was young she lost both her parents in the Second Impact incident and was the only survivor of that fateful event. She was twenty one at the time and the incident left her unable to have children of her own. He watched as a police officer went up to the two women and interrupted their conversation.

"Miss Katsuragi, we're ready to begin now."

"Ok, good."

The three of them ducked back out under the police tape and watched as the crane began moving in towards the huge boulder. As it did so Asuka turned to Shinji, wondering what was going on.

"What is this all about, you didn't drag me out her to meet your old guardian did you?"

"No, wait and see."

All three of them looked on as the crane picked up the boulder and lifted it up off of the ground, as it did so Asuka's stomach lurched as she saw something dropping off the bottom. She looked up and noticed the entire bottom of the boulder was stained with blood. She turned to look at Shinji and noticed he had gone slightly pale at the gruesome scene in front of them. The crane settled the boulder down in a location next to it as the three agents ducked back under the police tape towards the scene.

The three of them drew their heads back at the sight of the scene in front of them, to say it was gruesome would be an understatement. Directly under where the boulder had landed was what could only be described as human road kill. The body they saw was bloodied, squashed and destroyed. Asuka had trained in a medical school briefly before coming to NERV so she was used to the sight of blood and guts, but this was nothing like she had seen, it was almost as if this boulder had landed on top of this guy from a very great height.

"That's disgusting."

"I agree, so what are your thoughts Agent Sohryu?"

"Well clearly this guy has been, for lack of a better word, squished between the ground and that boulder that was removed. For this to have happened the boulder would have had to have fallen from quite a height. Of course there's nothing around this immediate area that will have led to this so I'm assuming the use of a crane but surely someone would have noticed that."

Shinji merely nodded.

"Looks like it, but to get this crane in we had to cut through an area of the fencing so that rules out that possibility. The other thing is that the boulder was originally over there."

He pointed to another area of the park, in that area were eight boulders set up in a circle each one similar to the one that had just been lifted away, Asuka spotted that one of the boulders was missing.

"So the boulder we just saw lifted came from over there?"

"That's right."

Asuka looked from the circular set up back to Shinji, who seemed to be equally as confused as she was. She then turned to Misato who just merely shrugged.

"Ok, so what do you think it is Agent Ikari, and don't tell me you think it was the Jolly Green Giant either."

Shinji looked at her blankly and spoke.

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Well we found his wallet near to the scene, he is forty four years of age and is a Patrick Anderson. An American immigrant whose name is not unknown to NERV, his name frequently pops up with regards to mob involvement. Tokyo 3 police have been watching him for quite some time, gathering evidence on him, it is their belief he was in the park last night to cut some sort of deal but the details are unknown."

"So what, do you think the other people turned on him and killed him?"

"It's possible, unfortunately the good police officers watching him decided that the moment of his death would be a good time to nip out for more coffee so they were unable to see anything and no other witnesses have came forward, we do however have details on who he was scheduled to meet."

"That still doesn't explain how the boulder got from there to here."

"I think that maybe he pissed off the person he was dealing with and this was their way of revenge."

"What, so one person picked up a boulder and throws it at him? That's impossible."

"Well, in the past many have tried experiments with things like telekinesis, it's not too farfetched to suggest that whoever done this harnessed some sort of telekinetic power."

Asuka slapped her forehead and looked at him scathingly.

"So you're suggesting we're going after someone who can move objects with his mind?"

Shinji locked eyes with her and instantly began to question what he had just said, it wasn't that he didn't believe it. It's just the way Asuka had simply questioned it made him lose all confidence in what he had just said.

"Well no, I was just… never mind. We should probably question the person he was scheduled to meet. I'll be over at the car making the arrangements, you two do whatever you want to do."

Asuka and Misato watched as Shinji quickly walked away from the scene and back towards the car. Asuka immediately recognized that she had sapped the young mans confidence and was angered by the fact that Shinji backed down so easily.

'_Idiot, if he's going to say something he needs to be more forceful and not give up so easily, although the idea did sound stupid.'_

"I see you two are getting on well."

"I don't understand him, he's got a reputation for having all these strange ideas and concepts yet whenever he's mentioned one in the past two cases we've worked on he just backs down straight away when questioned about it. It's almost as if he just doesn't want to have me here."

"I'll be honest with you Agent Sohryu, he doesn't."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No but I was his guardian when he was fourteen and he's always been like that, he doesn't like having people around him and you questioning him like that doesn't help."

"I'm not trying to upset him it's just his ideas are a bit too farfetched, I mean telekinesis and such, they don't even exist."

"To him they do, there's a reason why he believes what he does, but it's not my place to tell you, it's his."

"What do you mean?"

"Shinji is the way he is because of his past, he has things there he hasn't come to terms with yet, this lead to his strange beliefs. The fact that people within the agency ridicule him for it doesn't help."

"Do you believe any of what he believes?"

"You mean about aliens and the paranormal?"

"Yes."

Misato thought about the question for a few moments before replying flatly.

"No."

"I see, so what do you think happened here then?"

"I don't know, but I have confidence that you and Shinji will be able to figure it out."

Asuka looked over to the corpse on the ground and then back over to Shinji, who was sitting in the car resting on the dashboard. The conversation with Misato had only worsened her view of Shinji, she wondered how someone like him could have been in NERV for so long when they were unable to really put forward anything or at least work with other people. She then cast her mind back to everything that had happened in the past week, the entire incident with the medical facility and Shinji's reaction to her since then. She was meant to be his working partner yet he had told her nothing about what had happened.

'_How pathetic'_

"Who was he supposed to meet with?"

"A Ken Mizushima, he runs a small betting shop near here I believe."

"I think we will be taking a trip there now then."

"Good luck."

**Mizushima's Betting Store – 1030 hours**

A hive, that's how Asuka would have described the place. A hive of addicts and criminals, she wondered how such a place could exist within a city like Tokyo 3. Along the walls various fruit machines spun in unison as their scruffy players eagerly tried to win the main prize. In the far corner, a group was huddled around a TV willing on horses to try and win, then groaning when they lost.

'_I doubt these guys would notice if it was a recording'_

Towards the back there was a counter where a guy in a suit sat, naturally he sat behind protective glass just in case one of the people within the store decided to go insane. Both Asuka and Shinji quickly made note of the various men in suits scattered around the store, keeping a close eye on the addicted gamblers. It couldn't be any more obvious to both Agents that this was just a front for the mob, yet for some reason the people within it were still allowed to work. It was exploitation at its finest and unfortunately for the people involved it was all legal.

They quickly made there way up to the counter and Asuka leaned over to speak to the person behind it.

"I'm looking for Ken Mizushima."

"The Boss? A lot of people are looking for him, who in particular is looking."

Asuka brandished her ID at the person sitting behind the counter.

"Agent Sohryu of NERV, I'm investigating a case in which an acquaintance of his was murdered, we just want to ask a few questions."

"NERV, eh? He was expecting you, go straight up the stairs, it's the first room on the right."

Shinji glanced over at Asuka as the man spoke, a warning signal went off in his mind. It was too easy, no one tried to turn them away or come up with any excuse. Maybe it was a trap, he waited until they were into the stairwell before making his feelings known.

"Agent Sohryu, hold on a moment."

"What is it?"

"Don't you think that was a bit too easy?"

"Yes I do, but I don't think they'd be stupid enough to try to spring a trap. Let's just be careful."

"Agreed."

They both cautiously climbed the stairs and entered the corridor the man at the desk had told them to. The two of them slowly approached the door and paused for a moment outside. Lightly Shinji tapped on the door.

"Mr. Mizushima?"

There was no response, Shinji and Asuka looked each other both with a confused expression on their faces.

"I thought he was expecting us?"

"Guess we thought wrong."

Asuka now knocked on the door a bit louder this time.

"Mr. Mizushima open up, we're NERV Agents."

Again there was no response, Shinji was getting slightly impatient and he could sense Asuka was feeling the same. Suddenly a thought occurred to them both, maybe this was a trap except not in the way they thought.

"You don't think?"

"Oh for crying out loud, that must be the oldest trick in the book."

The two of them quickly darted from the door and back down the stairs into the main area of the store. They took a quick look around only to find that the person who had told them where to go was still sitting there except now he was reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette, not dashing out of the store towards freedom as both Agents expected. Shinji made his way over to him this time hoping to get better results.

"Where is your boss?"

"I just told you he's in his office and was expecting you guys, he even wrote it down look."

The man brandished a piece of paper with some scruffy handwriting on it. Shinji studied the writing and read what it said.

'_NERV will be sending someone here, when they arrive send them up, I have something important to tell them.'_

Shinji folded the note up and put it in his pocket before speaking again.

"Well he wasn't in there and his door was locked."

The man got up from his chair and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket he made his way out of the counter area and made sure it was locked securely.

"Hold on a minute I'll take you guys up there."

The man lead them back up into the corridor and towards the same door, he inserted one of the keys into the door and opened it, allowing them all access to the room.

"Boss, those NERV Agents you were expecting have arr…"

His sentence dropped off as he saw the state of the room, all around the floor were various bills and receipts. Most of them stained with blood, on the right hand wall a safe had been opened and various notes were scattered around the floor. The two agents entered the room and looked around, the window had been opened widely, obviously an escape route. Asuka broke the silence.

"What happened here?"

"It looks like there's been some sort of struggle, how long has your boss been here and has anyone else been in here since he arrived."

"He arrived ten minutes before you did and was the only person besides me with access. The windows open from the inside and I've been downstairs all morning, we even have the CCTV footage to prove it."

"Where could your boss be now then?"

"I have no id… holy shit."

Both agents watched as the guys face turned very pale all of a sudden, they both quickly noticed why as they saw what had caught his eye. A drop of blood trickled down as they saw the body of Ken Mizushima had been effectively nailed to the ceiling. The missing notes from the safe had been stapled all over his torso and legs and knives of different varieties kept him held in place. Shinji turned to the man who had lead them up here and questioned him a bit more.

"Has your Boss mentioned anything about anyone being after him?"

"No, although he did look slightly nervous this morning."

"Ok, this is what you're going to do, go downstairs and close up the store. We're going to look around a bit more here."

The man simply nodded and left the room, leaving Asuka and Shinji to digest what they were looking at.

"Guess Mizushima wasn't our guy then."

"Doesn't look like it, I'll call NERV and get them to send a team out here to recover the body. Look around the office see if he left a note or anything."

Asuka nodded, but before Shinji left she asked him a question.

"Did you know Mizushima was going to be dead?"

"I had a feeling he might have been, I think someone is after revenge against these people. I also think Mizushima was aware of it and what this person was capable of, he was probably a witness to what happened last night."

"Then why didn't he say anything or call the police?"

"He was expecting us, maybe he knew it was inevitable or maybe there was something here he wanted to show us."

"What could that be?"

"I don't know but I'm willing to bet it's inside this office."

Shinji stepped out of the room withdrawing his cell phone in the process. Asuka noticed immediately how he had acted with regards to this, everything he said had made sense and she had to admit she was thinking the same thing. It amazed her how he acted now compared to how she had seen him act before she remembered what Misato told her about how his past had affected the way he is and compared it to what the reports she had read on him had said. Even with Shinji's bizarre ideas he was still a highly competent agent and probably one of the best in Tokyo 3.

'_But still… telekinesis and aliens, it's all a bit stupid'_

She made her way round to Mizushima's desk, making sure to avoid the general area around where the body hung. Immediately a letter with the title NERV caught her eye, she quickly flipped open the letter and read it quietly.

'_To whoever NERV sends,_

_If you are reading this then I have died, probably the way I deserve to. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we double crossed this man but now he has returned and is coming after us one by one. He has already taken out Anderson and now me. This guy… I have seen him do things that are supposed to be impossible, he can move objects without touching them I can't explain how but he can. His name is Hideo Kis…'_

Asuka cursed silently as the note cut off just before it revealed their prime suspects full name. She read over the letter again making notes of everything that was said, she stopped and read over the section about moving objects repeatedly.

'_Moving objects without touching them? He's referring to telekinesis, is everyone but me going insane around here?'_

She folded the not up and put it in her pocket, ready to leave the room when the door suddenly slammed shut in front of her, this was closely followed by the windows slamming shut. She tried to force the door open but it was to no avail, then she looked towards the window, sure she was going insane. Directly on level with the window was another of the knives, the window opened again and she watched as the knife pointed directly at her.

'_This is impossible, this can't be happening'_


	4. Running Shoes

**Mizushima's Betting Store – 1040 hours**

Shinji stepped out of the room, leaving Asuka to search the area. He pulled out his phone and made his way out into the stair well. He quickly dialed in Misato's number and waited for her to answer, as he waited he went over the case so far. Two dead bodies in the space of twenty four hours, it was obvious to Shinji that someone was out for revenge. Mizushima had been linked with several crime syndicates in and out of Tokyo 3, the other man who had been killed, the American, had also popped up and had been linked to several of the syndicates. It wouldn't surprise Shinji at all if the two deceased had crossed paths several times before.

'_I'm sure there's something else going on here, the way they died, it's not normal, but Asuka doesn't believe me, I don't blame her but I'm sure I'm right, if only she could see it for herself maybe she'll believe me.'_

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as Misato picked up on the other end.

"_Katsuragi here, what's going on Shinji?"_

"Hi Misato, we're at Mizushima's now."

"_I see, did he have anything to say?"_

"If he has he didn't get a chance to say it, we found him dead in his office."

"_Dead? But how?"_

"We found him pinned to his office ceiling and his office had been ransacked, doesn't look like any money was taken."

"_I see, I'll send a team down to retrieve the body, keep me posted on what's happening."_

"Sure th…"

A scream was heard from back in the corridor, Shinji immediately recognized it as Asuka's voice.

"Misato I have to go, get a team down here as soon as possible."

He quickly hung up and ran up the stairs towards Mizushima's office and the source of the screaming. He burst through the door just in time to see Asuka pinned up against the wall, hovering directly in front of her was a knife. Quickly he grabbed hold of her and pulled her out of the room, just as the knife flew at her face. She was just able to make it away in time as it slammed into the wall with a hefty thud.

The two of them looked at each other, both with fear in their eyes, unsure whether or not to believe what they had just seen. Before any of them could get a chance to speak a shout was heard from outside the building, they quickly dashed back into the office and across to the open window, the man from earlier who had shown them up the room was standing in front of a hooded man, a knife aimed directly at him.

"What… What is this, who the hell are you?"

The man lifted his hood back, he was bald but severely scarred, he lifted his head up showing something to Mizushima's employee, almost immediately the employee flinched backwards in fear. He dashed to the door trying to open it but it was too late as the knife was plunged straight through his throat. Shinji flinched as he watched the man get decapitated. Shinji quickly pulled out his pistol and ran out of the room down to the alleyway. Asuka also pulled out her gun and followed Shinji down.

When they got outside into the small alleyway there was no trace of the man they had previously seen, they cautiously stepped into the alley and towards the street. Shinji noticed a hooded man running away and quickly bolted after him.

"Stay here and wait for Misato, I'm going to get some answers."

"What do you mean? You just saw what he did…."

Asuka called after him but it was no use, Shinji had already gotten far away and was unable to hear her anymore. Asuka cursed under her breath and looked around the alley, slightly unsettled at the sight of the body in front of her.

**Streets of Tokyo 3 – 1050 hours**

Shinji had been chasing after the guy for what seemed like ages, through back alleys and across busy streets, he never seemed to tire. His heart was pounding in his body as he just ran trying in desperation to catch up with the guy. He made it to what must have been the twelfth alley when he noticed that he could no longer see the guy. Nervously taking a look around, he noticed he was in the docks area of the city.

'_Shit, he could be in any of these warehouses around here'_

He cautiously stepped out of the alley he was in and looked around and noticed a multitude of warehouses with their doors open and most bolted shut. A few of them had workers moving back and forth between large vans and trucks. He holstered his gun and walked over to one of the workers brandishing his NERV ID.

"Excuse me, have you guys seen anyone running through here in the past five minutes."

The two workers looked at each other before responding to Shinji.

"Nope, haven't seen anyone passing through here all morning. Then again we've been in the warehouse all morning."

"I see, well thanks anyway."

He sighed and headed in the other direction, trying to find a sign of the guy. He could be hiding in any of these warehouses and it'd take forever to search each one intensely and by that time he could have moved on. To make matters worse, Shinji hadn't even gotten a good look at the guys face. They knew he was bald and severely scarred on the top of the head, but that wasn't enough to go on, he needed more. He crossed over the road ready to head back to Mizushima's office when his cell phone started ringing.

"Agent Ikari."

"_Shinji, where are you? Agent Sohryu has just told me what happened, what do you think you were doing chasing after him like that?"_

"Sorry."

"_Idiot, you could have been killed."_

"Sorry."

"_Where are you anyway?"_

"I chased him into the Docks District but lost him there."

"_Stay where you are, I'm sending Agent Sohryu to pick you up, she found something in Mizushima's office relating to our guy."_

"Yes"

"_And Shinji, one more thing, don't go chasing after this guy again, he's dangerous. I don't want you or Asuka going after him on your own, if you see him move away and inform me first."_

"Right..."

The phone went dead, leaving Shinji to contemplate the conversation he had just had with Misato. She sounded angry, it had been quite some time since he had heard her sound that angry at him, not since the first time he ran away from her when she adopted him.

**Thirteen Years Ago - Docks District – 2300 hours **

He couldn't remember how long he had been running form, but it seemed like forever. Shinji crossed over a road and ducked into a nearby bus shelter, just as a flash of lightning tore through the sky. His clothes were completely soaked and the rainwater streamed down his face, disguising the tears which were also rolling down his face. Out of breath, he collapsed to the ground, his back pressed against the glass. He wiped his face with his hand and brought his knees up to his chest, trying to scrap some piece of warmth.

The music from his SDAT Player cut out suddenly, leaving him with only the sound of the rain drops dripping on the Bus Shelters roof. Shinji looked down at his soaked shirt and trousers and spoke softly to himself.

'_I'm pathetic'_

He looked around to see where he was, most of the street lights weren't working and the majority of the buildings were yet to be constructed. In the poor illumination he could make out the shadows of a group of youths on the other side of the road walking past. They were yelling and were clearly drunk. Two of them paused for a moment and Shinji eyes widened as the two started making out and groping each other as the others tried to get them to move on.

Shinji desperately tried to scrap together any warmth around him, he even contemplated going back.

'_No… I'm not going back, she doesn't need or want someone like me around, I'm only in the way'_

It was strange but he couldn't even remember what had caused him to run away, there were no arguments and it wasn't that he didn't like Misato.

'_I'm just an inconvenience to her, it'll be better for her this way, bad things will happen if I go back.'_

Shinji had only been staying at Misato's for a couple of weeks, she had pretty much adopted him after his uncle died a month ago. Shinji would rather she hadn't, he was scared that she would just abandon him like the others have. He then remembered what it was that caused him to run away. A dream about his mother, it was ten years ago and his mother was talking to him, he couldn't remember what it was about and then there was a light and the next thing he knew, she was gone. Then it was a few years later, he was at a gravestone, this time with his father, he couldn't remember who's name was on the stone. He looked away for a second and then his father had also gone.

The third scene he was with his uncle, Shinji had been staying with his uncle for a few years, however most of those years he had to pretty much bring himself up as his uncle was in and out of hospital and then the same thing again, his uncle vanishing before him. It was the fourth scene which led to it, and was probably the most disturbing thing about the dream. This time it wasn't a family member, it was Misato, only she was lying face down, Shinji couldn't remember precisely but he was sure she was slightly younger. He was in a ruined city, all the buildings had been destroyed and everyone had died. That was when he saw Misato lying face down on the floor.

A tear rolled down his face as the memories of the dream came flooding back to him, he couldn't let that happen to her. Everyone else he had been around had abandoned him or died, he wasn't going to let that happen to Misato, she had been nice to him, if he ran away now and was never heard from again it would save them a lot of pain in the future.

His eyelids began to feel heavy as the rain started coming through the roof of the bus shelter. Despite the dampness and the cold he felt an urge to just sleep, slowly his eyelids began to close as he drifted off.

'_Goodbye…. Misato…'_

**Present Day – Basement Offices – 1130 hours.**

Eventful would be an accurate adjective for Asuka and Shinji to describe their morning so far. After all, it was not every day they would witness someone being murdered in the manner that they had seen. Asuka was furious at Shinji, first of all for running off and leaving her alone to deal with passers by and also to wait for back up from NERV and secondly for failing to even apprehend the suspect. They entered the office and Asuka threw her coat down over her seat and went straight to her computer. Shinji also went over to his desk, quite unsure of what to say to the angered woman.

Maybe it was becoming a common theme, Shinji sat on one side unsure of what to say while Asuka sat angry and getting on with her work. Still, the last time they were in this situation they were able to solve the case, maybe they would have the same luck. Shinji decided it would be a good time to test this theory.

"Misato said you found something relating to our suspect in Mizushima's office."

She stared over and Shinji and glared a hole straight through him.

"That's right."

Asuka reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the note she had found earlier in Mizushima's office, she put it on her desk and continued speaking.

"It was just before that whole knife incident, it's addressed to us. Mizushima began to write down the person's name, but was interrupted before he could finish it off."

Shinji got up and picked up the note, reading it over a few times. He made a mental note of the name 'Hideo.' He cursed silently when he realized there was no surname to go with it but it still gave them something to go on.

"So Agent Ikari, what was that that we saw at the crime scene?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, that guy he… you saw what he done, that was impossible."

"But you saw it didn't you?"

"Yes but how can someone do that?"

"I don't know, all I know is that it happened and we have to stop him before it happens again. If this note is correct then there are more people out there who this guy is going to kill, we have to find him before he kills again."

"We have his first name and a few letters of his surname but that doesn't give us much to go on. I can't just search through a list of everyone called 'Hideo' in Tokyo 3."

Asuka had a point, they couldn't just go out looking for anyone called Hideo, however they did have something else to go on.

"You're right, what if we limited it to people who own businesses in the Docks?"

"We don't know that this guy does run a business though and why the Docks?"

"That's where he was able to slip away from me, maybe he has a business that operates out of there."

"Well no offence Agent Ikari, but you're not exactly the most athletic looking person, maybe you were just too slow."

Shinji laughed for a bit.

"No he's definitely there, besides running's something I am at least good at."

**Thirteen Years Ago – Hospital Room – 0430 hours.**

The first thing Shinji saw when he woke up was an incredibly bright light, he struggled to open his eyes, wondering what had happened. He slowly came to and found himself staring up at a hospital room ceiling. Shinji wondered how he had got here, the last thing he remembered was falling unconscious in the bus shelter. The room was dimly lit, however in the far corner he could see Misato sleeping with her head slumped against a table.

He tried to grab more of the sheet trying to get some warmth, he sneezed violently waking Misato up in the process. He immediately shut his eyes pretending to be asleep as she got up and walked over to his bed. He felt her warm hand pressed against his forehead.

"Shinji…"

Her voice was breaking up as she tried not to cry. She had spent half the night trying not to cry from the moment she realized he was gone to the moment she was told he had been found. It was amazing the effect he had on her even though it had only been a few weeks since she had adopted him.

"Shinji, why did you run away?"

Shinji gave no response instead he just shut his eyes tighter, hoping Misato would think he was sleeping. She did no such thing however, instead she sat on the bed and put her arm over him.

"Shinji, why did you do it? Is it because of me?"

"No, it's not that…"

"Then why?"

"I just didn't want you to abandon me."

"Shinji, why would I do that?"

"Because everyone else has, you'll be no different, it'd have been better if you just left me."

Shinji sat up and looked directly at Misato, she saw tears had now started to move down his face. Misato however, was now beyond crying instead all she felt was anger at the boy's words.

"I see…"

"Sorry…"

"Sorry? That's all you have to say, sorry isn't going to cut it Shinji. How can you say such a thing like that?"

"Because it's true, everyone abandons me."

Misato done something at that moment that shocked her, it shocked Shinji as well. He knew he deserved it though, he had gone too far. He brought his hand up to his cheek from where Misato had just slapped him. She started shouting at him.

"You ungrateful idiot, you think that after I take you in and go through all that to adopt you I'm just going to abandon you? You think that after I spend half the night looking for you only to find you unconscious that I'm just going to abandon you?"

He didn't respond, instead he just looked down at the sheets, rubbing his cheek.

"You're not the only person in the world to have something bad happen to them Shinji."

"I know that but… "

"But nothing, if you want to leave then do it now and we won't have to see each other again. I'll take you back to the agency tomorrow and say it didn't work out. If that's what you truly want then I'm not going to stop you, Shinji. Make up your mind now because next time I'm not coming after you."

Shinji didn't say anything as he contemplated Misato's words, maybe he was being stupid and maybe things would turn out differently this time for him. He had been so used to being on his own that when someone tried to reach out and get close to him he just felt like they would abandon him after a while, just like his father.

"Well what is it going to be?"

Shinji still didn't, speak instead he just put his arms around Misato and held onto her sobbing into her shoulder. Her expression of anger soon changed to that of sympathy.

"I see, lets go home Shinji."

**Present Day – Docks District – 1835 hours.**

The two agent's car pulled up outside the abandoned warehouse, they parked it under one of the broken streetlamps and cautiously got out of the car. Shinji nervously looked around him and saw the area was mostly abandoned and derelict. Across the street an abandoned bus shelter caught Shinji's eye.

Asuka noticed he seemed to be looking intently at it as she withdrew her gun she went over to him and nudged him slightly.

"Agent Ikari, are you ready to do this?"

He was brought back into reality and he too withdrew his pistol and nodded.

"Yes, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yes, this place was recently bought by a man known as Hideo Kisaragi, I ran his name against the criminal database and he appears linked with several crime syndicates in Tokyo 3, he was also linked with an attack ten years ago involving our man Mizushima. He received three bullet wounds to the head in said attack."

"Sounds like him then, shouldn't we inform Misato first?"

Asuka shook her head.

"We don't have time, by the time they get here he might have already gone."

Shinji nodded in agreement and looked at the warehouse one more time, from where he stood there appeared to be a front entrance, he could also make out an alley round the back, possibly leading to a back or side entrance. Asuka continued speaking.

"You look round the back for another way in, I'll take the direct route."

Shinji nodded and headed round the side of the warehouse trying to find another way in. Asuka watched him slip into the distance before she turned and looked over at the bus shelter, wondering why Shinji was looking so intently at it. After a few moments of readying herself she quickly ran up to the front entrance to the warehouse and tested the door.

'_Sheisse, it's locked.'_

She fumbled about in her jacket pocket for her NERV Lock pick and inserted it into the lock. Asuka wondered if Shinji was yet to find a way in and also if this was indeed the place where their suspect was hiding out. She also wondered what would happen if their director of operations caught wind of what they were doing. She knew full well that they should have told her what was happening, but Asuka didn't want to let anyone else take the credit for solving this, it was a matter of pride for her.

After a while the lock clicked and she was able to open the door, she slowly readied her gun and opened the door slightly and looked inside. Towards the far side of the warehouse a small fire was lit and she could make out the shadow of a man standing by it. She clutched her gun tightly and pointed it at the man.

"Hideo Kisaragi?"

She edged closer to the man still keeping her gun trained on him, the man was silent. As she got closer she called out again.

"Excuse me, Hideo Kisaragi?"

As she got nearer she noticed something else about the man, he was not standing he was hanging. She felt sick to her stomach as the body turned around hanging from the rafters of the roof. She stumbled backwards dropping her gun in the process as she stared in shock at the hanging body in front of her.

'_Oh god no not this, come on Asuka pull yourself together… it's only a body, you've seen plenty, need to stay focused'_

She kneeled down to pick up her pistol again, but it moved away just as she went to grasp hold of it. She watched as it scraped across the floor into someone's waiting hand.

"I see you people won't stop sticking your noses in where it's not wanted."

Asuka glared at him, showing no fear.

"Who are you?"

"The very person you came here to apprehend, but you see the thing is my dear NERV Agent, I cannot allow you to do that. Not until I have had my retribution."

"So that's what this is about? Retribution?"

"Precisely, ten years ago those 'people' betrayed me, they left me in a pool of my own blood and now I am doing the very same to them."

"You won't be able to get away with this, NERV knows who you are and where you are, it'll only be a matter of time until you're caught."

"How exactly are they going to catch me? You have seen for yourself what I am capable of."

At that point a knife flew out if his pocket and straight past Asuka's head into the body behind her.

"I suppose maybe I should thank my old associates for allowing me this opportunity, unfortunately you won't be around to see it."

He raised Asuka's gun and aimed it directly at her head, his finger was poised on the trigger. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact of the bullets, the sound of gunfire rang out across the warehouse. However to her surprise she was still standing when she opened her eyes. Instead the man was lying on the floor, still and lifeless.

She blinked twice, wondering what had happened in those few moments she had her eyes shut. She spun around and saw Shinji standing in an open doorway, his pistol still aimed at the man's body. He slowly lowered his weapon and walked over to Asuka, he was about to speak when torchlight swept across the warehouse and a woman's voice rang out.

"Stop right where you are."

Shinji recognized the voice almost immediately and called out.

"Misato?"

The woman made her way into the warehouse and looked at the two agents and then to the body of the dead man lying on the floor.

"Agent Ikari, Agent Sohryu, what do you think you were doing disobeying my orders and going after him by yourself?"

Both agents lowered their heads, all Shinji could manage was a muttered 'sorry'. Asuka however spoke clearer.

"It was my idea, I thought if we waited he might have go…."

"That's enough Agent Sohryu, I'll speak to you later. Agent Ikari, can I have a word with you please?"

Asuka nodded and left the warehouse, leaving a furious looking Misato to talk to Shinji.

"Why did you disobey my orders, Shinji?"

"She was right though, he had already murdered someone else."

"I see, I'm not happy with it but you both caught him so that's the main thing. Ironic though, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well meeting you again after a few years and the very same night I have to chew you out in this place."

"Eh?"

"Don't you recognize this place?"

They slowly made their way outside and Shinji looked over at the bus shelter again, he smiled at her and nodded.

"Yes I do, this is where I ran to on that night thirteen years ago."

"So you did remember?"

"How can I forget, I was ill for the next two weeks. I probably deserved it though."

She chuckled.

"Yes you did, I'm glad we'll be working together Shinji. You and Asuka are an asset to NERV no matter what the others think or say. Sure you might have a few outlandish theories but you're a brilliant Agent, don't forget that."

Shinji was glad it was dark because he could feel himself turning red as Misato complemented him. They both said their goodbyes and Misato went over to talk to Asuka. Looking over again, Shinji could have sworn he saw someone running over to the bus shelter, he was sure it was a young brown haired boy in a white shirt and black trousers. He looked again and saw no one was there and smiled to himself as he headed back to the car.

A/N: Well that's chapter four down, sorry for skipping a bit on the whole action against Hideo part but that wasn't really the focus of these two chapters. Chapter 3 was to introduce Misato and Chapter 4 to develop Shinji's character a bit. Hope you liked it anyway.


	5. Blue Haired Girl

_1st May 2015_

**Restricted Facility – 2230 hours**

Fuyutsuki glanced over at the man speaking on the telephone and then back down at the newspaper in his hand. In the darkness of the office it could be seen that the paper was at least three weeks old. Across the top the headline stated 'Bodies of abducted children found.' The article in question was relating to the case three weeks ago in which two NERV agents found the bodies of the children in the lakes. Of course there was no mention of NERV within the article, thanks to a media cover up by the committee.

'_No they don't want anything getting out that could get in their way'_

The other man got off the telephone and sat with his hands folded in front of him, his glasses reflecting in the dim light of the office. Fuyutsuki wondered how the man could be so calm in situations like this.

"So what did Chairman Keel have to say for himself?"

"The scenario is going as planned, he just informed me the next one is due to enter Tokyo 3 soon."

"Three weeks between them, they aren't giving us much time to prepare."

"It was to be expected."

"So what are we going to do about this one Ikari?"

The man produced a set of documents from his desk drawer and placed them on the desk in front of him.

"I want you to give these to the new Director of Operations. They include instructions on the man and also a notice to give the case to the new products."

Fuyutsuki frowned when he heard Ikari say the word 'Products' knowing full well that one of the products in question was in fact Ikari's own son.

"Do you think they will be able to handle it?"

"She will start feeling the effects of the serum soon, he will be feeling the effects of the serum due to the increased dosage he was given. I will be sending Rei to keep track of them incase Unit One fails in some way."

"Unit One?"

"That is his designation as a part of the Evangelion project."

'_He is your own son Gendo and you can't even call him by name.'_

Fuyutsuki picked up the documents and put them in his inside jacket pocket. Just at that moment there was a knock at the office door, Gendo motioned for Fuyutsuki to open the door. When he did so the figure of Ritsuko Akagi stepped through into the office.

"Director, I believe you summoned for me."

"Yes, Dr. Akagi, what is Rei's status?"

"She is still in stasis after the last run out, but stable."

"Have her ready by tomorrow, I'm sending her out."

"Yes sir."

_2nd May 2015_

**NERV Offices – 0915 hours**

"Wait! Stop the…."

It was too late, the doors closed just as Shinji reached them. From inside he was sure he could hear the person laughing.

"…elevator…. Bastards."

He watched as the elevator panel showed it going all the way up to the 20th floor and it just stopped there. Shinji had not been having a brilliant morning, his alarm clock had bust, causing him to wake up late and he had then had to get the bus to work after his car had broke down. It was an experience he didn't want to replicate any time soon.

'_To make matters worse my head feels like it's being crushed between two boulders'_

He checked his watch as he waited for the elevator to come back down, after what seemed to be an eternity the elevator doors opened, allowing him to go down to his office.

'_Why this building doesn't have stairs going down there I don't know…'_

The elevator finally made its way down his section and he quickly rushed along to the office, his head still pounding. To his surprise, Misato was already inside the office in conversation with Asuka. He made his way in and hung his jacket up and went over to his desk. Misato's eyes followed him with a concerned look on her face.

"Good morning Agent Ikari, are you feeling alright you're looking rather pale?"

"I'm alright, haven't had the best of mornings and got a bit of a head ache that's all."

Shinji looked around the office and saw Misato clutching a brown envelope in her hand, Asuka was busily typing away on her computer.

"What's going on?"

Misato gave him a confused look and then realized what he was talking about. She looked at the envelope and pulled out the documents inside.

"They're details of a case you two have been assigned to, straight from the Director of NERV. They were left on my desk this morning."

Shinji stood up and made his way over to Asuka's desk as Misato pulled out the documents and laid them out on the desk. Shinji took a look at the top sheet of the documents, it showed what appeared to be a hooded man. It was a record of this man, most of the sections were blank except for the aliases there was a name Shinji recognized.

"Shamshel?"

Misato looked up at him curiously.

"You recognize the name?"

"Yes, the name has been synonymous with cult activity in sections of Japan. The leader of this cult supposedly goes by this alias."

"Cult?"

"Investigations into the cult have gone nowhere due to lack of evidence or information, but it is believed they target doctors and scientists. I remember reading the case file on them when I came to this section."

"I see, well it is believed that this Shamshel guy is in Tokyo 3 now and the Director wants you two to investigate him."

Shinji handed the document to Asuka who glanced over it and put it back down.

"What else is in that case file?"

"Potential targets and locations this person might be in."

Misato produced another document and handed it to Asuka, Asuka quickly scanned over the various locations on the document.

"How are we supposed to cover all of these locations, they've put down everything from vets surgeries to hospitals to school nurses."

"Agent Sohryu is right Misato, we can't work from this list, we don't even know if this Shamshel is going to hit any of these places"

Misato gathered together the documents on the table and sighed as she put them back into the envelope. She wished she could help the two agents more but there was nothing she could do. The orders from the director were to not include anyone else from NERV in the investigation aside from Asuka and Shinji.

"Well there's more within the envelope for you two to look at, the Director wants you two working on this though and only you two for some reason. No one else in NERV is to get involved."

Shinji thought it was a bit strange but nodded, Asuka however did not react with the same courtesy.

"Only us two? So we aren't to tell anyone else about this case?"

"Yes that is correct, it would seem they want this guy really badly."

Misato stood up and straightened her jacket.

"Well I'll leave you two to it, good luck."

With that she promptly left the room, leaving behind and angry looking Asuka and a confused Shinji. Shinji jumped slightly as Asuka slammed her hand down on the desk.

"Well this is brilliant, how do they expect us to do anything with just a name and a list of locations?"

Asuka looked up at Shinji expecting a reply, instead he just continued reading the document in front of him appearing to be completely engrossed in it.

"Ikari, I asked you a question?"

"I heard, I'm just double checking that we didn't miss something."

"Like what?"

"Hidden message or something,"

"And have we missed anything?"

"Can't seem to see anything, you were right. This is completely useless, we have nothing to work with."

"So what do we do? You're the one who is interested in cult activity and crap like that."

"Well we can probably start by looking through any previous case files mentioning Shamshel and then try to find anything on the supposed cult I guess."

Shinji moved back over to his desk stopped halfway to clutch his head as a sudden pain shot through him. His vision became blurry as he slowly made his way back to his desk, trying to hide the fact he was in so much pain. He slowly sat down and waited for the pain to eventually subside before looking back over the documents. He looked over the picture of the hooded man supposed to be Shamshel, trying to notice any distinguishable marks on the hood that might help him and Asuka in starting out.

"Ikari."

"Yes Agent Sohryu."

"What does Shamshel mean?"

"I don't know."

Asuka sighed before continuing.

"I thought you were supposed to know all about this sort of thing."

"Sorry…"

"Doesn't matter, it's not your fault, I'm just wondering why the leader of this cult would choose such a name. Maybe if we found it's meaning we might be able to find out more about him."

"You can take a look, I'm going to look over the case records for any mentioning of this guy's name."

Asuka watched Shinji as he exited the room, noticing he had gone even paler since he had come in. She also noticed earlier how he had clutched his head when going over and wondered if he was alright. She quickly set her thoughts back on the case and began reading through the case files again and searching for anything to do with the name 'Shamshel'

**Commercial District – 1930 hours**

Despite it being early May the skies above Tokyo 3 were incredibly dark, it was a strange side effect of the Second Impact Incident in old Tokyo, ever since that Japan had experienced unseasonable weather conditions from time to time. It was one of the many reasons most UFO Cults believed the impact was caused by aliens. No real explanation was given, most people didn't care for a reason. It is widely believed that the unseasonable conditions were due to the effects of chemicals being released into the air after Old Tokyo was destroyed.

A rumble of thunder echoed over the district as the downpour began, suddenly people who weren't prepared for the rain began to run quickly to their destination. Those who were always prepared put up their umbrellas and began to walk around as normal. The reflections of the advertisements and billboards began to reflect in the puddles, gathering on the ground creating a dazzling effect and brightening up the area.

All of this was of no concern to the hooded man walking down past one of Tokyo 3's famous restaurants. There was only one thing on his mind, the rain, the lights and the people, it was all of no concern, the only thing he cared about was his mission. He crossed over the road into another street, slowly moving away from the bright lights of the commercial district. He stopped outside a building and lit a cigarette, he put his lighter back inside his pocket and slipped into a back alley. Slowly exhaling the smoke, he pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed in a number.

"I'm at the location, I will carry out the mission as planned."

"_What are our orders?"_

"I want you to deliver the packages I gave you to the people on the list."

"_Yes sir, there is one thing."_

"What is that?"

"_Our men have reported two NERV Agents are currently trying to find you, it would seem the committee is aware of your presence in Tokyo 3."_

"Our plans have not changed, I have said for some time we are on a limited schedule. Let them send their agents, we will do what needs to be done."

"_Yes sir."_

He hung up his cell phone and stepped out of the alley way, putting out his cigarette. Looking over at the building opposite the alley, he muttered something under his breath.

"_Tonight it begins, those who attempted to trespass shall be punished for their crimes."_

He slowly made his way over to the building and stepped into the lobby. To his relief there was no one around, he looked up at a listing of the floors near the stairs, tracing his finger over the names on there. He stopped when he got to one name and smiled coldly.

'_So this is where you've been hiding.'_

He slowly began making his way up the stairs to his destination and stopped when he reached the fifth floor. Slowly opening the door he paused when he saw a flashlight moving down the corridor, just then two voices could he heard ringing through the corridor.

"_Dr Kato, working late again I see."_

"_Yes, I'll be out soon, just got to send this research off."_

In the darkness the man smiled as he waited for the conversation between the guard and doctor to end. Once it did, he watched as the security guard left the room and walked down to the other end of the corridor and round the corner. That was his cue, he stepped out into the corridor and towards the doctor's office. Slowly opening the door, he lowered his hood as he entered, he stepped foot into the office and grinned as he watched the doctor's look of fear when he noticed him.

"You… no it's not possible."

"I'm glad you remembered me, although I'm surprised the committee didn't already warn you I was coming."

"The Committee… I haven't had any contact with them since…"

"Since I and the other rejects were cast out, are those the words you're looking for."

"That's not it, after that. Gehrin was disbanded we were all in the same situation."

"Were we really Doctor? So was your situation wandering through the middle of nowhere for five days with no hope of survival."

"We... I... there was no other choice, you were dangerous."

"Yes I was, and who do I have to thank for that. Now they're at it again, only my sources have told me that they have improved the serum."

"I swear I've heard nothing."

"You're just as bad as them, I already know Doctor your little department here has been supplying part of the drug used. I can't prevent what they're planning, but I can delay their plans."

"If you're going to kill me then get on with it. They'll find you, they're stronger than you now, you were only the fourth. Your power is limited, your field is weak Shamshel."

"I already know, that's why I'm going to take great pleasure in killing you."

Shamshel laughed as he extended his A.T. field, sending the doctor flying against the wall. The doctor's body hit the ground with a sickening thud, he then produced something from his pocket, a small piece of rope. He walked over to the doctor and began to tie his hands together. Suddenly Shamshel's arm began to glow a bright red, he drew back and plunged his hand straight through the doctor's heart, leaving a splatter of blood all up the wall.

He withdrew his hand and his arm returned to normal, just at that moment the security guard burst into the room, just as Shamshel put his hood back up.

"Who are you… what have you done to… oh my god."

The guard pointed his gun at Shamshel as soon as he saw the doctor's dead body lying on the floor. Without saying anything further he fired two shots directly at him, much to his shock the bullets just seemed to reflect from a wall of light that emanated from Shamshel.

"I apologize for this but I cannot die yet, I must see who has been chosen."

With those words Shamshel extended his A.T. Field at the guard and sent him flying back into the wall with a force that sent the guards neck snapping back. Shamshel stepped over to the guard's motionless body and checked for a pulse. He slowly picked up the guards gun and fired three shots directly into his skull, sending blood splattering all over the tiled floor. He calmly wiped any blood from the gun clean on his jacket and placed it back down next to the guard before walking away, back towards the stairs.

**Asuka's residence – 2030 hours**

Asuka stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around her firmly. She turned the radio dial and looked at herself in the mirror, just at that moment her phone began to ring. She sighed and made her way out of the bathroom, her wet hair dripping water down onto the carpet.

"Hello."

"_Agent Sohryu, its Katsuragi."_

Asuka picked up the cordless phone and took it into her room and began to dry herself off while talking to the operations director.

"Yeah, what can I do for you?"

"_Is Shinji with you?_

"No, I'm at home, why would he be with me, we left work hours ago."

"_I can't get in touch with him at home or on his cell phone."_

"Maybe he just went out and forgot to take it."

"_Probably, anyway I'm just wondering if you noticed something strange about him today."_

"You mean more so than usual in the four weeks I've known him."

"_I'm being serious Sohryu, he looked ill today and didn't seem to be himself."_

"I noticed it as well, but most people act a bit strange when they're ill. You know him more than me, if he's ill what does he act like."

"_He acts like that, tries not to let anyone know something's wrong with him."_

"Well there you go, that's probably it."

"_I think you're right, sorry I was just… concerned."_

Asuka was about to say goodbye and put the phone down when a glimmer of light from outside her house caught her eye.

"Has someone from NERV been sent to watch our houses?"

_"I'm not aware of anything why?"_

"Someone's outside in a black car, I just noticed them."

"_Directly outside?"_

"Yes directly, I can't see their face properly but they're watching the house."

"_Can you go down to the bottom window to get a better look?"_

"I'd love to but I've got nothing on, I just got out the shower."

Asuka could hear Misato sighing over the phone, she was about to speak again when the car door opened. Asuka observed as a blue haired woman stepped out of the car. She closed the car door and Asuka watched as she just seemed to stare at the house.

"Hold on, she just got out the car."

Asuka mentally noted down details about the woman, she was about the same height as Asuka and a similar build. She had pale blue hair and her pale skin seemed to reflect in the streetlamps. Asuka still couldn't get a better look at the woman's face though. Just at that moment the woman looked straight up at Asuka, seemingly into Asuka's eyes. Asuka quickly tried to cover herself up and moved away from the window.

"She just spotted me, but I got a good look at her."

Asuka peered out again and noticed the woman and car had driven away.

"Katsuragi? Are you still there?"

_3rd May 2015_

**Commercial District – 1030 hours**

Shinji watched as Asuka pulled into the parking space, feeling pathetic at his situation. His car was still down and he had been told not to drive by Misato, due to the headaches he was still suffering from. His condition had gotten worse since yesterday, he had failed to mention to both Asuka and Misato that he had blacked out last night, not wanting to worry them with anything.

The car came to a stop and both he and Asuka stepped out, he took the case file from the dashboard and looked around the area, to his surprise there were no ambulances or police cars to be found.

"Are you sure this is the right place."

"This is the place we were told to go to by the operations director, does seem a bit strange that there's no one else here though. I thought she said it was a murder scene."

"Maybe when they said they only wanted us two to be in on it they really meant it."

"Was this place on the list?"

"I believe so."

The two of them made their way into the building, just as they were entering, Asuka noticed two men leaving wearing lab coats, on the coats was a logo that looked strangely familiar, the image of a triangle with seven eyes within it. They stepped into the lobby and were greeted by Misato.

"I'm glad you're here, they won't let anyone but you two see the body."

Shinji gave her a confused look and responded promptly.

"Who won't?"

"The guys upstairs said it's a matter of up most importance that only you two see this and are involved with it."

"Did they say who they were?"

"No, but they had NERV ID and said it was orders directly from the director."

"Strange, well I guess we had better be getting up there."

Misato nodded but stopped them before they were about to leave.

"You two... be careful okay."

Asuka smiled and replied.

"Of course we will, what can go wrong?"

**Crime Scene – 1045 hours**

The two agents approached the floor and were promptly stopped by two people wearing black suits.

"Sorry we cannot allow you access to this area, directors orders."

Asuka pulled out her NERV ID and flashed it at the two men.

"Yes we already know, we're agents Sohryu and Ikari, we've been assigned this case."

"Sorry about that Miss Sohryu, go on ahead."

They entered the area and the first thing Asuka noticed was the awful smell emanating from the area. She looked around and saw the body of the doctor lying motionless, dried blood all over his clothes and a puddle of it on the floor. She looked around and noticed another body just outside the door. This one was that of the security guard, there was a gun lying in his outstretched hand and blood from the gun wounds in his head still seeping out onto the floor.

"How disgusting…"

Shinji nodded in agreement.

"How could someone do such a thing?"

He knelt down to examine the doctor's body and recoiled at what he saw. Around where the heart should be a hole went straight through the body, Shinji noticed a strange orange liquid dripping from the doctors clothing.

"Agent Sohryu, come and take a look at this. Recognize it?"

She knelt down beside him and looked at the liquid and nodded.

"That's the same thing we found during our first case isn't it. I'll collect a sample and we'll get it analyzed."

Shinji nodded and stood up, he went over to the window and looked out, in the alley opposite the building something caught his attention. It was a woman he then suddenly realized who it was.

'_It's that woman from the Sachiel case, the one who attacked me.'_

"Stay here for a moment, I'm going to go check something out."

"What is it?"

Shinji didn't give her a response, instead he motioned towards the alley, Asuka looked out and saw the woman standing there. She glared at her before turning around but by that time Shinji had already left the room.

**Back alley – 1100 hours**

He entered the alley and looked around, to his dismay the woman had already gone. Shinji moved further in trying to see if maybe she had moved deeper into the alley. He was unsure why he was pursuing this woman but something compelled him to, this was the second time he had seen her, it couldn't be a mere coincidence. He turned the corner and just as he did so he felt immense pain increasing across his head, he became incredibly dizzy as his vision also began to blur.

Stumbling around the corner he tried to stop himself from falling, he leaned against the wall and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor before collapsing to his knees. That was when he saw her again, she was standing directly in front of him, his vision began to return but the pain was still there he desperately tried to utter something.

"Who… are... you…?"

Her emotionless face looked down at him but she gave no reply, he asked her again and this time she looked him directly in the eyes. This time she did speak, her voice was soft but stern.

"I am Rei Ayanami, or Evangelion Unit 0"


	6. The Beast

_3rd May 2015_

_What is this place? I feel… strange._

Shinji felt himself surrounded in a strange orange glow, he looked at his surroundings and found himself sitting in some strange contraption. It was a seat which he was strapped into, he struggled against the straps and just then one of them snapped loose, allowing his arms to move freely. Shinji brought his hand up in front of his face and studied it closely, his skin had turned a pale white color. He felt himself jolt suddenly and he noticed his surroundings had changed.

He was no longer inside the strange contraption but was now standing in a hospital operating room. A group of doctors were stood around an operating table but they didn't seem to notice Shinji at all. All but one of the doctors moved away from the operating table and outside of the room. He looked at the other doctor and recognized her, it was the same one he had seen a few weeks ago during the Sachiel incident.

_A…Akagi… was that her name? Where is this place?_

The doctor had a sad expression on her face and simply moved away from the body, he edged closer to it trying to get a better look and frowned when he looked at it. The face was blurred as if Shinji was looking at a criminal on one of those reality cop shows on TV. The door to the room opened and this time a man walked into the room, Shinji did not recognize this man but there was something about him that looked oddly familiar. The man was wearing dark glasses and wearing some sort of military uniform bearing the same seven eyed logo he had seen before. He had short brown hair and also a brown beard, Shinji tried to think where he had seen the man before, but it was to no avail. The man stepped into the room and passed by Shinji almost as if he didn't notice him and spoke to the Doctor.

"Risuko, why has he not yet been injected?"

"I am preparing the serum now."

"We do not have all night, the other one will be arriving soon and we need to prepare for him."

Shinji frowned as he heard the words, suddenly a realization hit him.

_Is this… what happened to me and is that Agent Sohryu they're talking about?"_

He watched as Ritsuko produced a needle from one of the trays and began filling it with a strange orange liquid. Once it was full she stepped over to the body on the table and went to inject it. Shinji found himself transfixed on the image as she began to inject the person's body. Just as the needle went into the body he felt pain shoot through every part of him as if someone was tearing him apart from the inside. He fell to his knee's screaming out in agony as everything around him turned to a blur. He looked on as the scene around him began to tear itself apart and he felt himself being torn from the world, still screaming out for someone to help him.

**Misato's Apartment – 1245 hours**

Shinji awoke suddenly. Screaming out, he jolted upwards nearly clashing with Misato who was looking over him with a concerned look. She put her arm around his shoulder and gently lay him back down, noting that he was sweating profusely. Just at that moment Asuka came into the room scowling.

"I see he's awake then."

Misato turned to look at her.

"It would seem so, how are you doing?"

"I've stopped the bleeding and bandaged it, stupid bitch, if I see her again I'm going to k…"

"Agent Sohryu you're a NERV Agent, its best not to talk like that."

"Yeah yeah, I'll gently arrest her for assaulting an agent then but I swear I'm going to put my gun up..."

"AGENT SOHRYU!"

"Okay, sorry."

"Could you both be quiet please, I feel like I've been ran over."

Both Misato and Asuka turned to look at the voice belonging to Shinji. He no longer looked as pale but was still sweating a bit. It was an improvement, however, on how he looked when Asuka and Misato discovered him. Shinji took a deep breath and then spoke again.

"Where am I?"

"You're at my place Shinji, Asuka found you after you collapsed and we brought you here."

Shinji looked around the apartment, noticing he was in Misato's front room. It was as he expected, very untidy even though she hadn't been in Tokyo 3 for very long. It brought a strange sort of comfort to Shinji, it was something he was familiar with although he had to admit he was glad he didn't have to clean up all the time like he did when he stayed with Misato.

"What happened to… to the woman?"

Asuka interjected herself at that point.

"You mean that blue haired bitch, well after you ran off I waited about five minutes and heard nothing from you so I came after you. I arrived to find you lying face down on the floor next to a pool of your own vomit and that bitch standing over you and then she attacked me!"

"Attacked you?"

"Yes attacked me, she punched me in the stomach then cut me with something. I tried to shoot her but she vanished by the time I got my gun out."

"Why would she attack you?"

"How am I supposed to know idiot, you're the one who seems to know her."

_Is she the one we're after, was it her that done that to Shinji?_

"This is the second time I've seen her."

This got both Misato and Asuka's attention, they watched on as Shinji pulled himself up into a seating position and began to tell them about it.

"Agent Sohryu, do you remember when we were hunting the person known as Sachiel?"

Asuka nodded.

"I saw her, then she shot him and then attacked me, knocking me out."

"You saw her? Then why didn't you tell me anything?"

Shinji had been waiting for this moment, he didn't want to tell Asuka because he didn't want to put her in any danger. The place she came to get him from and the man known as Sachiel were connected and he wanted to find out how. He just didn't want to involve her, he had nearly died when he got to close to the woman and Sachiel and he didn't want that to happen to Asuka.

"I… didn't… I don't know, I just couldn't."

"You idiot Shinji, when I found out where you were I asked you if anything had happened and you said no. You spoke about others hiding something yet you were hiding this from me, you moron."

He hung his head and replied meekly.

"I know… I'm sorry."

Misato cut in before Asuka could launch another tirade at Shinji.

"Both of you calm down, despite what's happened you two still have to work together and there's a murderer out there in Tokyo 3 that we need to find. More to the point, there's also this other woman who has assaulted one of my agents to track down."

"Rei Ayanami"

"Huh?"

"That's what she told me her name was."

"I see, when did she tell you?"

"Just before I passed out, she also mentioned Evangelion Unit 0 or something like that."

Asuka cut in.

"Evangelion? What the hell is that?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out more about this."

He went to stand up but as he did so Misato pushed him back onto the couch.

"No you're not, you're staying here until we're certain you're fine. Agent Sohryu has already agreed to go back to NERV. Besides I want to hear more about this Sachiel case."

"But I…"

"But nothing, Agent Sohryu you don't mind going and digging up whatever you can find do you?"

"Not at all, I want to know more about this woman as well."

"Right, report whatever you find back immediately. Leave the liquid samples here as well."

Shinji raised his head at the mention of this.

"What liquid?"

Asuka responded back to him.

"The samples I took of the liquid at the crime scene, we also found traces of it in the alley where you passed out. I think it's the same stuff we found when we dealt with Sachiel."

"I see."

**NERV Offices – 1315 hours**

Asuka made her way into the offices and hurriedly logged into the computer, pain shot through her bandaged hand as she typed in her username and password.

'_Stupid bitch she'd better hope we don't find anything or I'm going to make her life hell'_

As she waited for the computer to load up she went through all the events leading up to this moment and about the blue haired woman. She thought about Shinji mentioning he had seen her during their first case and then again and began to wonder if there was a connection between the two cases.

'_Why would she turn up there and now again, is there a reason for it, is she connected with…'_

She typed the name Shinji had gave her into the NERV system and waited for it to scan through, trying to remember anything else from the case which may have been of help, unfortunately nothing came to her straight away. After a few moments of waiting the search finished, pulling up no results.

'_What the hell, no one by that name. Ok, I'll just try Ayanami on its own'_

She hastily typed Ayanami in and once again waited for a result, once again it came up as there was no one registered on the database under that name.

'_That bitch gave him a fake name, how could we have been that stupid to believe her.'_

She gently massaged her head trying to think of anything else to help them, so far since arriving here everything she had done had been of little to no help at all. Sure enough she had given advice on what to do next but the first case hadn't heralded any results and the previous case she was saved by Shinji. Now here she was unable to turn up anything, she slammed her good hand off the desk in frustration and picked up the phone to call Misato.

'_This is pathetic how am I supposed to show I'm a good Agent if all that happens is I get rescued or find nothing'_

The phone rang for a few times and then Misato picked up on the other end.

"_Hello."_

"Hi it's Agent Sohryu, I haven't been able to find anything on Miss Ayana… hold on a minute."

Asuka stared at the computer screen where it had previously said no results. "Found an item" had now appeared, it was a profile on one Rei Ayanami. She cautiously opened the record and began speaking again.

"…I don't know how but a record just appeared on her, I could have sworn that wasn't there before."

"_Ok, what does it say?"_

"Name Rei Ayanami, this can't be right the file is completely blank except for a name and a date of birth."

"_Impossible."_

"You don't have to tell me that, ok anyway name Rei Ayanami, birth date the twenty seventh of December, year two thousand, that's impossible the woman who attacked me was older then fifteen!"

"_I see, well we can't use that information so onto other things, the liquid samples, are they still there?"_

Asuka opened the drawer to try and find the records from the last Sachiel case only to remember what had happened to all the files from that night. She slammed for drawer shut and responded down the phone angrily.

"I'm afraid not, they were stolen during the Sachiel case along with everything else to do with the case."

There was a brief pause on the line as she waited for Misato to respond.

"_Stolen? Why was I not informed?"_

"It was before you arrived here, I was told that an internal investigation was ongoing but nothing seems to have been turned up from that."

"_I see, well we have two samples here so that's better than nothing, me and Agent Ikari will go to the labs to get them analyzed."_

"Right, I'll meet you two down there."

**Labs – 1400 hours**

Misato pulled up into the parking space and began to get out of the car, when she noticed Shinji had gone pale again. She put her hand on his shoulder and spoke to him softly.

"Shinji are you sure you're alright? You didn't have to come you know."

"No it's alright I'm fine, it's just I forgot how bad of a driver you were. Give me a few minutes."

Misato scowled and looked at him with a mock sad expression, he smiled slightly and made his way out of the car, making sure he had the two liquid samples. Misato was pleased to see he was at least looking better, she thought of him as if he was her own son so naturally she hated seeing him like he was earlier.

"Misato, where did Agent Sohryu say she'll be meeting us?"

"Inside the building, Shinji can you tell me more about the Sachiel case and the liquid you found there?"

He paused for a moment, trying to remember the exact events and then began telling them to Misato.

"Someone sent me a package with case files for the children that were being murdered a few weeks ago, so I began digging into the NERV Archives and found a pattern dating back to about forty five years ago. We went to the crime scene of the latest victim and Agent Sohryu noticed something about the blood on the floor."

"What did she noticed?"

"It wasn't blood, it was something else, she went to get it analyzed but found nothing. Anyway on that night we went out to the lakes trying to find our suspect, you already know the rest."

"So do you think what you found today is the same liquid?"

"Could be, but the records from last time were stolen by someone so we can't really be sure."

"If it is then what could it mean?"

"It means that somehow the cases are related, but how I don't know."

"Any ideas?"

"Maybe some new sort of cult or something else entirely, but the appearance of the liquid and the blue haired girl make it look that way."

He finished speaking just as they got into the waiting room of the laboratories. Waiting for them was Asuka who had a stern expression on her face.

"I never thought I'd be this glad to see you both."

Shinji shot her a confused look and spoke.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"We have Doctor Pervert again."

"Eh?"

"The guy who asked me out when he had his elbow wrist deep in human torso."

Shinji tried to stop himself from laughing out loud, Misato however couldn't restrain herself and laughed loudly.

"Well I'm not surprised someone as young and good looking as you is bound to attract attention from all sorts of people."

Asuka gave Misato a glare of death for that comment and her next words stopped both Shinji and Misato's laughter dead.

"Oh, shut up."

Misato put on a serious expression knowing how severe the situation was.

"Ok, we're sorry, where is he?"

"Probably cutting someone up, he's gave us use of one of the labs, we can perform the tests there."

The three of them made their way into one of the empty labs and Shinji handed the two samples over to Asuka who began to power up some of the machines in the labs. Shinji and Misato merely looked around confused as to what was happening, Asuka however felt immense pride at being able to do something they couldn't. She knew it was perhaps childish to feel it, but after her experiences so far it was great to actually be able to show off her own skills.

"This machine will analyze the liquid sample and compare it with the DNA profiles within the system, assuming this is DNA it should provide a match or at least a sense of what it's closest to."

Asuka fed the sample into the machine and then switched on an identical machine next to it and repeated the process with the second sample.

"I didn't know you were able to use all this stuff, Agent Sohryu."

"It's nothing complex Agent Ikari, but the results might be which is good that I'm here. As I said I trained as a Doctor at University in Germany."

"How come you joined NERV, then?"

Asuka looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, when I left University I received an invitation to come to Japan and train for NERV. Obviously someone recognized my good work and decided I could do some good here, so I joined."

She smiled as she gave her explanation, partly with arrogance and pride. She had always taken great pride in being the best she could at anything. She was quickly brought back down when Shinji asked his next question.

"So what were you able to find about Rei Ayanami?"

She scowled slightly and gave over the results of her search, it was a single document, no picture and only two lines of text.

"Name Rei Ayanami, Date of Birth twenty seventh of December year two thousand, that's all the NERV Computers could find?"

"Yes, it's like she doesn't exist."

"It might still mean something, the date is the same day as second impact."

"What does second impact have to do with this?"

"Nothing but we should still keep hold of it."

"I don't see why, without any more information we have nothing to go on."

"I think I might know where to find more information on her."

Misato stepped over to him and looked at him sternly.

"Shinji you're not thinking of…"

"Yes, they're the only people who will be able to help."

"Shinji, you're risking a lot if you involve them, if you do I can't get involved due to my position at NERV."

"I know that but I don't have a choice, besides they're my friends and I haven't seen them in a while, might be a good time to pay them a visit."

Asuka looked at them both, at first surprised at Shinji having friends and then even more so at Misato's reluctance to allow him to do whatever he had in mind.

"Excuse me but, what are you talking about?"

"Two friends of mine, they should be able to find more on Miss Ayanami."

"I see, well the machines should be finished by now."

She walked over to the first machine and looked at the results, studying the only result on the page. She quickly put it down and moved onto the other machine only to find the same results.

"The liquids are identical, but according to these results there's only a minor deviation of that from human DNA."

**Suzahara Residence – 1630**

"So who are these people exactly?"

Shinji turned to look at her and began explaining.

"Two friends of mine, I met them a couple of years ago. Touji Suzahara and Kensuke Aida. For lack of a better term they're computer geeks, well Kensuke is, Touji is more into athletics and such, he plays for a small time basketball team. They're conspiracy theorists but are also able to get any information you want."

"I see, and you think they'll be able to help us?"

"Maybe."

Shinji knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response, he could hear movement from inside the apartment but no one near the door. He knocked again, this time calling through the door.

"Touji, Kensuke open up, its Ikari."

They waited a few more moments and eventually the door crept open a small amount. Through the crack Shinji could see a young mans face with glasses and scruffy looking hair.

"Who's the woman?"

"That's Agent Sohryu, open the door Kensuke."

The door opened fully and the man quickly beckoned them in, closing the door behind him. Asuka turned to look and noticed the door had over five locks on it, she shot Shinji a confused look and he just shrugged.

'_These people are even weirder than Shinji, guess there is hope for my job yet.'_

The three of them made their way into the living area, or at least what was supposed to be the living area. It was more of a storing ground for spare computer parts and numerous amounts of wires.

"Hey Shinji, great to see you, who's the chick?"

They turned to look at where the voice had came from, Asuka was surprised at what she saw. Whereas Kensuke was probably an accurate portrayal of the geek stereotype this other guy seemed to be anything but, he was fairly athletic and quite well built, if anything Asuka would have thought he was an older version of the Jock stereotype. She was about to respond when she noticed both Kensuke and this other person staring at her.

"What are you both staring at?"

"Not..."

She quickly held her suit jacket tighter around her.

"Perverts, maybe next time I should charge a viewing fee, Shinji who are these two stooges."

"Hey, we asked first."

Shinji interjected himself at this point.

"Calm down, we have a serious situation. Kensuke, Touji I need a favour from you. We're trying to track down a woman called Rei Ayanami we found no other details except date of birth which the document stated as the day of second impact."

Kensuke took the sheet of paper from his hand and looked it over.

"Okay, we can do that, when do you need it by?"

"Well now would be nice."

"Okay, sure thing, let me just take a look."

Asuka shot Shinji another confused look as they crowded around the computer. She was about to ask Shinji what was happening when she felt some ones hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw the grinning face of Touji. Without giving it a second thought she slapped him direct across the face. Shinji and Kensuke just looked on with amused looks on their faces.

"Touch me again and next time I hit you somewhere more painful."

Kensuke tapped in a few commands on the keyboard and looked up. Asuka recognized immediately what he was doing, he was attempting to break into the government database. Not even she had access to that.

"Umm, what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm using a backdoor to get into the government database, don't worry, it's safe no one is ever watching this thing."

He tapped Rei's name and waited for it to search, after a short while a result was found. He opened the document and her records showed up, however before anyone could get a good look the screen changed with only the words "Access Denied" at the top and the strange seven eyed logo beneath it. Both Asuka and Shinji immediately recognized it as the one they had seen during the Sachiel case and again earlier that day.

"Kensuke, change of plan, get out of the system and instead I want you to find whatever you can on that logo. I think it's time for me and Agent Sohryu to pay some people a visit."

He gave Asuka a knowing look and she spoke verifying they were thinking the same thing.

"You mean the facility we were in a few weeks ago."

"Yes, I think that's where our guy is heading to."

**Restricted Facility – 1015 hours**

The exterior of the building was just as Asuka remembered it, on the wall the same seven eyed logo was there and the entrance just a few meters away. Something seemed different about it though, there was no security guard outside and no light from the facility.

'_Maybe they all went home for the night.'_

Both herself and Shinji exited the car and made their way over to the entrance and peered inside, there was no light from the corridor and no sounds at all from inside. Shinji nervously pulled out his torch and shone it inside. Inside he could make out a broken trolley and various boxes. He turned around and spoke to Asuka.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone in there, do you think they knew we'd come back?"

"No idea, lets take a look inside, you head straight down I'll check the other labs."

"Ok, sure."

They both made their way into the facility, Asuka pulled out her torch and turned off down the other corridor, leaving Shinji to explore more. He slowly made his way up the corridor, being as silent and cautious as he could just in case there was someone still there. Something about this whole thing wasn't adding up, a few weeks ago this was a fully functional facility and now it was practically abandoned.

'_Why would they abandon it like this, do they know something we don't?'_

He slowly made his way down a set of stairs and into another laboratory. The lab was huge, towards the center were a bed and a set of drawers. However around this were shelves that appeared to have been emptied in a hurry. On the floor was a strange symbol that Shinji did not recognize. He made his way over to the set of drawers, finding only a set of tablets and a card on it. Shining the light on the card he was shocked to find it belonged to the person they had came here in search of.

'_Rei Ayanami? She was here, hold on a minute what is this?'_

Next to the card was another ID Card, once again belonging to Rei, only this time it was not a generic card but a NERV ID.

'_She's in NERV?'_

He pocketed the card and moved on further into the lab, now he found himself in a huge open space, on the floor he noticed the same liquid they had discovered earlier on. He bent down to examine it and just as he did the lights in the laboratory went on.

"So you're who they've chosen."

He looked up to find himself looking at another man, he immediately knew who the person was.

"Shamshel…"

"So they told you the name they gave me, I see. Yes Agent Ikari I am the person they called Shamshel."

"What is this place and who are you talking about?"

"This is one of their labs, this is where I was created, this is where you were given your power."

"What power? I don't understand."

"You are their latest plaything, they're using you just as they used me. They're going to use you and the female to hunt us and kill us."

"Who's using us?"

Shamshel laughed.

"The people I came here to kill are, but seeing as you found me I guess I will not get to."

Shinji stepped forward, pointing his gun directly at the man called Shamshel.

"I have no idea who you're talking about but I have no intention of letting you kill anyone."

"I know you don't, that is why you're going to kill me before I get a chance to."

"You're insane, why would I kill you?"

"Because that is what you have been chosen to do, you are the hunter and we are your prey, Evangelion."

"Evangelion?"

Shamshel looked at him and studied him closely, his face breaking into a twisted grin when he realized something about Shinji.

"I see, you know nothing, he has chosen to keep you in the dark. I must say you look like him."

"Look like who?"

"Your father."

Something inside Shinji snapped when he heard those words, he started shouting.

"My father? What the hell do you know about him?"

Shamshel merely laughed and stepped forward towards Shinji, as he did Shinji slowly began to back away and unloaded two shots. The bullets merely deflected off of some sort of forcefield in front of him.

"This is pathetic, they sent you after me and it hasn't even taken effect yet, maybe I was wrong to expect death"

Shinji found himself looking around for somewhere to move to but it was too late, Shamshel grabbed him and punched him, the force of the blow sending him backwards onto the floor. Shinji got to his feet and fired more shots, each of them deflecting off of Shamshel's field. He watched helplessly as Shelshel's arm began to glow a bright orange color and then struck him again. This time the force sent him further back along the floor, he cried out in pain as he felt himself slamming against a shelving unit.

He tried to pull himself up and looked around for anything he could find, hearing Shamshel moving towards him again. Suddenly everything went black, Shinji tried moving around for anything, finding only darkness. He spat up blood onto his hand and felt anger rising up inside him. His vision came back as he saw Shamshel moving towards him again, Shamshel brought his arm back to deliver the final blow but then the same field appeared in front of Shinji, deflecting the blow.

Unaware of what he was doing, Shinji reached for something on the shelf and grabbed hold of it. It was a knife, without even knowing what he was doing and in a blind rage he plunged the knife directly into Shamshel and screamed out. He held it there for some time and then slowly withdrew it, only to plunge it once again into Shamshel's torso, completely consumed by rage. Orange liquid splattered everywhere across the ground and a mixture of the liquid and pure red blood swept across the floor from where Shinji was repeatedly stabbing the man. After a few more strikes, Shinji slowly got to his feet and staggered across the floor, unsure of what he had just done. His shirt was stained with blood and he himself was bleeding heavily from his nose. He got back to the area where he found Rei's cards and vomited up orange liquid, before passing out once again.

A/N: A lot longer then I anticipated for this chapter but absolutely everything within it was necessary. Nothing much to say except to those of you that are reading thanks and be sure to leave a review. Not sure when the next update should be out, I know usually I like to do one a week but Christmas is coming up and my Birthday is 5 days after. I will try my best to get one out then, but until the next one I hope you all have a great Christmas and if I don't get one out before then have a great new year.


	7. Departure

_4th May 2015_

**Hospital Waiting Room – 0415 hours**

Misato sighed as she sat inside the waiting room, in front of her an impatient Asuka stood holding a cup of coffee. They had both been there for hours, waiting for the doctors to allow them to see Shinji. Asuka silently gazed at Misato who was trying her hardest not to cry. She slowly walked over and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her. Asuka wasn't going to admit it outright but she was concerned about Shinji and what they had gotten themselves into.

"What the hell are those Doctors doing in there, he wasn't that badly injured when I found him."

Misato looked up at her and spoke quietly.

"I thought you said he was covered in blood when you found him."

Asuka frowned slightly recalling the moment she found Shinji, she had entered the lab area and found him collapsed near the staircase covered in blood, with a knife near his body. At first she thought someone had killed him but when she examined him a bit closer she found out it wasn't his blood and he wasn't wounded except for a few blows to the head. The strange thing was that there was no trace of the person who's blood it was anywhere around.

"He was… but it wasn't his blood."

"I see."

Asuka felt Misato jerk slightly and she increased her grip on the woman. As she felt Misato crying silently she felt a pang of jealousy as she realized how much Misato truly cared for Shinji and how this was affecting her. It was something Asuka had never known, she had always maintained a distance with people and always kept an attitude of independence, not wanting to rely on anyone else, yet she couldn't help but be envious of the bond Misato and Shinji had.

"He'll be alright, the sight of the blood probably made the idiot pass out."

It wasn't the best thing she could have said to ease the situation but it got a smile out of Misato.

"Yeah probably, I should probably try not to worry so much."

Asuka released her arm from around the woman and allowed her to dry her eyes, she then stood up and leaned against the wall opposite the seating. She glanced around and noticed something about the hospital.

"It's awfully quiet isn't it, for a hospital?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aside from the Doctors and the crew who brought us in I haven't seen anyone else here, not even other patients."

"It's early in the morning."

"I suppose, just seemed a bit strange, probably from the lack of sleep."

"You don't have to stay, Agent Sohryu."

"No I do, I want to know what happened to him, besides I can catch up on sleep tomorrow at the office. I'll let him write all the reports."

"That's not really very appropriate."

"I know but I did them the last time so it's about time he done some paperwork, and I need rest."

Misato laughed at Asuka's words, it was the first time she had been able to genuinely smile all night. Just at that moment a Doctor finally appeared and started walking towards them both. Asuka frowned as she noticed something on the man's coat that looked remarkably similar to the seven eyed logo she had seen previously. She tried to get a second look but the logo had gone.

'_Strange, must be seeing things, probably from lack of sleep and too much coffee.'_

"Agent Sohryu, Agent Katsuragi, we've finished looking over Mr. Ikari. You'll be pleased to know he's fine and ready to be sent home. I'll take you to his room now, sorry for the wait."

"Its fine, we're just glad he's alright. Agent Sohryu are you coming?"

"Of course."

They quietly followed the doctor through the hospital corridor and towards Shinji's room. As they made their way there, Asuka noticed that there was still no one around, it was almost as if, except for them, there were no other people in the hospital. They rounded the corner to Shinji's room and standing outside his room were two more people. The first was another doctor but the second interested Asuka, the thing that struck her was his resemblance to Shinji. He had tattered brown hair and a beard. The man was wearing a Blue military type uniform that was opened, revealing a red shirt. His eyes quickly locked with Asuka's and then looked away again. As their eyes locked, Asuka felt a chill run down her spine, whoever the man was he was intimidating, even to her. Eventually they reached the room and the man spoke to the doctor who had lead them there.

"Who are these people?"

"Agents Katsuragi and Sohryu, they're the ones who brought Agent Ikari in, Mr. Rokubungi."

"I see, very well, let them in."

"Yes sir."

The doctor opened the door and allowed Misato and Asuka into the room, as they got in they saw Shinji standing up, finishing putting on a new jacket. He saw them both and smiled awkwardly. Immediately, Misato went over to him and pulled him into a huge hug, as she did so he yelped out in pain.

"Misato…"

"Oh sorry Shinji, guess I got a bit carried away."

"It's alright, how are you two?"

"Worried about you, what happened down there?"

Shinji frowned and looked down at the floor, thinking about how to phrase this best.

"I... don't remember, I remember going down into that lab and then that guy Shamshel was there and he attacked me, but everything after that is a blank."

"I see, so how are you feeling?"

"I'm in a bit of pain but I should be alright, at least we didn't come away with nothing. I found something down there that might be of interest, it's regarding our mystery female."

Shinji went over to his old, blood stained jacket and pulled out the NERV ID Card he had found earlier in the evening belonging to Rei. He handed it over to Misato.

"What do you think?"

Misato looked it over and then handed it back to Shinji, with a confused look.

"It's authentic, whoever she is she works for or, at least did work for NERV."

Asuka walked over and snatched the card out of Shinji's hand.

"That bitch works for NERV, then what the hell was she doing attacking me and why was her ID in that place. Could she have been working with the other guy?"

Shinji took the card back and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, she wasn't there last night, I'm certain of that. What happened to Shamshel?"

Asuka and Misato looked at each other, wondering how to answer his question.

"Well Shinji when…"

Asuka interrupted her and took over.

"When I found you there was no sign of him, I only found you."

"I see, so we're no nearer to solving it than we were before we went in there?"

"No, that's the thing you see. Shortly before I contacted Misato to tell her about you she got a phone call from the Director, telling her to congratulate us on the successful capture of Shamshel."

"How could we of captured him if we don't even know what happened? We don't even have a body."

"I asked the same thing, but we've been assured the case is closed."

Shinji glared at her, wondering if this was some sort of joke, or even a dream that he was going to wake up from any minute from now. The uneasy silence was cut off by Asuka speaking.

"What are we going to do about 'Agent' Ayanami then?"

"I don't know, we'll see what we can find tomorrow, I just want to go home at the moment."

Asuka frowned and accepted the answer not really wanting to go much further as she too wanted to go home and get some sleep, she did however ask the other question that was currently on her mind.

"Shinji, who was that brown haired man who was outside your room earlier?"

"You mean the military uniform style one? No idea, he said his name was Gendo Rokubungi, seemed to be in charge of this place or something."

_11th May 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1015 hours**

A week had passed since the Shamshel incident and progress had slowed in the offices. Both Shinji and Asuka had been given the week off strangely enough and weren't even required to submit reports on the case. An act which Shinji found very bizarre, especially considering NERV was usually very heavy on paperwork. However, despite being bizarre, it was also a relief for Shinji who never liked filing paperwork anyway. Shinji did not, however like the idea of taking the week off, so instead he spent the time searching through NERV trying to find any and all details of Rei Ayanami.

He was still clueless as to how nothing could be found on her, if it wasn't for the card and the fact that he had seen her she may as well have not existed. The only thing Shinji had thought of was that her records had been wiped and she had been assigned to observe over the two cases, but if that was the case then why did she attack them? He finished reading through a set of files before slipping them back into a folder and slapping them down on his desk, much to the annoyance of Asuka who had been watching him dedicate a week of his life to what she had deemed a pointless search.

"Ikari, will you stop doing that or I'm going to come over there and shove those files in a very painful place."

"Sorry, it's just frustrating, it's like she doesn't exist. Or she did exist and then they wiped out everything about her."

"Who are 'they'?"

"I don't know, whoever she is with."

Asuka shook her head and went back to her computer screen.

"Maybe she's with those aliens you believe in and she's observing us."

"Agent Sohryu isn't there just a minute chance you could open your mind a bit, I mean considering what you have seen, don't you have to admit there is a slight chance?"

"Nope, don't get me wrong I've seen some strange things Ikari, but aliens are still a bit farfetched for me. Now bring me one and I'll reconsider, but until then they're about as nonexistent as the records of Rei Ayanami."

"So you're giving up on finding Rei as well."

"Are you stupid? Of course not, when I find that blue haired bitch I'm going to hurt her, but she has a habit of finding us."

Just at that moment Misato stuck her head into the office and spoke out loudly.

"I think Agent Sohryu might be onto something, I just received another package from the Director. He's given you another assignment and a surprise."

Shinji looked up and frowned.

"A surprise?"

Misato walked in clutching a folder, she handed it to Shinji who began to read through it.

"Agents Ikari and Ayanami? What is this some kind of joke?"

Misato glanced at him.

"That's what I thought, but just like the ID card it's authentic, Agent Ayanami has been assigned to work with you and Agent Sohryu."

Asuka quickly walked over and snatched the case files.

"What is this trash, Agent Ayanami? The same Agent Ayanami who…"

"..attacked you? Yes, I don't like the idea of it anymore then you do. It's like we're being kept in the dark about everything. Fortunately for you and possibly her you won't be here when she arrives."

"What do you mean I won't be here, I thought she was being assigned to work with Agent Ikari and Agent Sohryu?"

"Yes she is, but you've been given a special assignment."

"What is it?"

Misato handed her a second folder and Asuka began reading through the case files, immediately after she started a smile crept up onto her face and Misato noticed her begin to blush slightly.

"Agent Sohryu, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just this special assignment really lives up to it's name. I'm working with an old friend of mine, well I say friend, he sort of looked after me a bit when I was younger and lived in Germany."

Misato grinned at her and replied teasingly.

"Oh really, who is it?"

"Agent Ryojii Kaji"

Upon hearing those words Misato's face dropped and Shinji looked up.

"Hey isn't that the guy wh..."

"Shut up Shinji."

Asuka looked at them, confused.

"What is it?"

"Oh Misato used to da..."

"Shinji I'm warning you shut up, it's nothing Asuka, have a nice time with that jerk. Sorry did I say jerk I meant asshole, oh no there I go again."

Asuka laughed.

"Oh, so you used to date him."

"Date, no I didn't date him, it was a fling many years ago, no big deal."

"I see, well I'll be sure to tell him you said hello."

"Tell him whatever you like, does it say what the assignment is?"

"No, it just says I'll be meeting with Agent Kaji and he'll give me the necessary information."

Shinji frowned slightly and spoke again.

"NERV seems to like not giving us any information, what are they trying to hide."

"Oh please, it's just the way this place operates, don't start with the conspiracy theories just yet Ikari"

"Sorry I just thought it was a bit strange."

"Yes it is, but I'm sure they have a good reason for it. In the meantime I had better get going, my plane leaves in two hours according to this."

She checked over the documents again, making sure that was indeed what it said, then she looked around the office again. Even though she knew she would be back it was a strange feeling leaving the place for another assignment just a few weeks after she had arrived here. Although she still wasn't too struck on the idea of working here, she had begun to warm up to the place and was beginning to think of it as her permanent location. It was a job where she was able to show off her talent and prove how good of an agent she was.

'_I'll be back in no time, in fact it won't even feel like I've gone'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Misato pulling her into a hug.

"Agen... Asuka, thanks for what you did a week ago and good luck. You had better be back soon."

Asuka smiled at her and replied.

"Don't worry this'll be over in no time, I'll be back before you know it. Probably be back in time to help you and Agent Ikari."

She turned just in time and Shinji stepped forward and outstretched his hand.

"Agent Sohryu thank you and goodbye."

"Getting a little sentimental are we, Shinji?"

She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him into a hug, much to his surprise.

"Keep chasing those aliens for me Shinji, and remember if you do catch one I want to see it."

_12th May 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1125 hours**

Misato stepped into the office and looked around, it was so lifeless now that Asuka had left and that had only been one day ago. She looked around and saw the reason why it was so lifeless, there was no one here. Not only was Asuka's side of the office empty for obvious reasons but Shinji's side was also abandoned, except there seemed to be an unusual amount up of files on his desk.

'_Oh for crying out loud, he didn't.'_

She stepped over to the pile of papers and sure enough, behind them all was Shinji, sleeping with his head resting on the desk. Misato glared at him and picked up one of the biggest files she could find and hit him directly on the head with it. He woke with a jolt and looked directly into her eyes.

"Shinji, have you been here all night?"

"Yes."

"Sohryu is right, you are an idiot, why were you here all night?"

"Something didn't make sense about the last few cases so I looked over the reports and profiles, Sachiel, Shamshel, Rei Ayanami, the seven eyed logo, I even looked up Gendo Rokubungi."

"And did you find anything?"

"No nothing of use, either nothing or in Gendo Rokubungi's case a profile and a mention of the hospital he is in charge of, but besides that nothing at all."

"Well today is the day Agent Ayanami arrives, so I'm giving you permission to go home and clean yourself up for her arrival."

"What about all this stuff?"

"I'll deal with it, Ayanami arrives at fifteen hundred hours, now go."

Shinji nodded and yawned loudly, he rested his head on the desk again and watched Misato leaving the room. Just at that moment his phone began to ring, he yawned and picked it up.

"Ikari here."

"_Agent Shinji Ikari?"_

"Yes that's me."

"_Good I'm glad I was able to contact you, I have information that might be of use to you."_

"Who is this?"

"_A concerned citizen, I cannot say much, they might be watching this line."_

"Who might be watching this line?"

"_I can't explain, just meet me at the derelict arena on the edge of the city at half twelve. It is in your best interest, I look forward to meeting you."_

"Hold on a mi… damnit he hung up."

He put the phone down and picked it up again and attempted to recall the number, however the phone didn't even get through to dialing, instead he was cut off straight away with a strange message.

"_The number you have just called is a government line, for security reasons your call cannot be connected."_

He stared at the phone and put it down slowly, making a note of the time and place. He pocketed the note and stood up, preparing to go home. He wondered who the mystery person could have been, he was already aware of the person who had called Asuka back during the Sachiel case and wondered if it was the same person.

'_I'm sure I have time to stop by there before I go home'_

His thoughts quickly turned to Asuka who was elsewhere, it was strange but when she arrived he thought she had been sent to get his section shut down, but since she arrived they had actually received recognition from the director and even received praise from the higher ups in NERV. It was something he was not used to, and for the first time he felt happy about his job. Still, there was this nagging feeling inside him that something bad was about to happen.

**Abandoned Car Park – 1230 hours**

Shinji got out of his car and looked across the parking lot, it was desolate save for a few abandoned cars. He walked around and leaned against his car, waiting for the person who called him. Almost as if on cue his cell phone started to ring, he answered it and it was the same person as before.

"_I see you made it, make your way to the section under the overpass and hurry it up."_

Before he got a chance to reply, the line went dead once again, he nervously glanced around and then pocketed his phone. A realization hit him at that moment, maybe it wasn't such a good idea being here. He had poked his nose around quite a lot in the past few weeks, maybe someone had caught wind of this and this was going to be some sort of set up.

'_No, that's not it, what a stupid idea. It Asuka was here she'd have called me an idiot for even considering that.'_

He made his way over to the darkened area and was immediately pulled in by someone else. He felt the person stick a gun to his head and speak quietly at him.

"Stay silent and give me your NERV ID"

Shinji reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID being careful not to agitate the person. The person took it and glanced over it before giving it back to Shinji.

"Were you followed?

"No."

"Good."

He released his grip on Shinji and pocketed his gun, Shinji moved around to take a look at who the man was. It was a grey haired man wearing a stern expression, wearing a uniform Shinji recognized slightly but couldn't place where it was from.

"Who are you?"

"A friend, I've been observing your progress for the past few weeks. I have to say the way in which you and Agent Sohryu handled the Angels was impressive."

"You've been observing us?"

"Yes, it's part of my job."

"So you're with NERV."

"You could say that, I'm not meant to be meeting with you but I have information which may be of use to you and Agent Ayanami when she arrives. It's regarding the next Angel."

"Angel?"

"Yes, the men you tracked down Sachiel and Shamshel were known as Angels. I cannot say more than that, however what you should know is the next one is about to enter Tokyo-3."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to be prepared. You, Ayanami and Sohryu are the only people who can take down the Angels."

"Why us, surely anyone who can handle a gun or any other weapon can take them down. Why does it need to be us?"

"That is just the way it is, you have been chosen by NERV to do this."

"Why have NERV chosen me, two months ago NERV didn't want anything to do with me, I was even considering leaving. Now it seems anything important is going straight to me."

"My time here is up Shinji, I cannot explain anymore. Here is the name and data on the next Angel good luck"

"Where did you get his?"

"I have to go, goodbye Shinji."

Shinji took the folder from the man and noticed a name on the front of the folder.

'_Ramiel'_

"Wait, just who are you?"

"My name is Kozo Fuyutsuki, do not try to check the records you won't find anything, just like you couldn't when you looked for Rei Ayanami."

Fuyutsuki began to walk away from Shinji and towards the car he had parked nearby, just as he got to the car he turned to Shinji and asked him one final question.

"Shinji, why do you continue to work for NERV if you hate it so much?"

Shinji thought about his reply before speaking.

"I'm here to uncover the truth."

"Shinji there is no truth, just a collection of lies told by different men."

He got into the car and drove away, leaving Shinji standing there holding the folder he had just been given. Shinji opened the folder and began to look through the papers as he made his way back to the car. They were laid out in a similar manner to the ones during the Shamshel case, there was hardly any information just a name and a supposed picture of the person. There was one extra page attached to it, in the top right was a logo Shinji immediately recognized as the same seven eyed logo he had seen countless times before, underneath were hastily scribbled notes regarding the person.

'_Warning: Subject possesses strong A.T. Field and highly accurate aiming within a certain range. Do not approach the subject under any circumstances, if seen fall back and contact SEELE Personnel'_

Shinji slipped the paper back into the folder and opened the car door, trying to work out what the small passage could be. A.T. Fields and accurate aiming, it was like something out of a science fiction show. He wondered just what to do with the folder and the information.

'_I'll hold onto it for now, and if we get any instructions from NERV regarding this person I'll tell Misato and Agent Sohryu when she returns.'_

**NERV Offices – 1530 hours**

Shinji sighed as he and Misato waited for the arrival of Agent Ayanami, he looked at his watch and watched as the clock turned to 15:30 on the dot, just at that moment the door opened and Rei Ayanami made her way into the room. Shinji wasn't sure what to do, he looked at her nervously, looking up and down. This was, after all, his first proper look at the blue haired agent. The first thing that struck him was how much of a contrast she was to Asuka, whereas Asuka had vibrant blue eyes and fiery red hair, Rei was the complete opposite. His thoughts were interrupted by Misato greeting her.

"Agent Ayanami I'm Agent Misato Katsuragi, I'm the director of operations here"

"Hello Agent Katsurai."

Shinji picked up on another big difference between Ayanami and Sohryu here, Asuka spoke not so much loudly but put a fair amount of emotion in her voice. Rei again provided a stark contrast, not so much emotionless but more a voice of sorrow of sadness. Shinji couldn't quite place it but there was something about this woman that struck him as familiar. He cast aside his feelings and decided to greet her.

"Welcome, I'm Agent Shinji Ikari."

She turned to look at him and something flashed in her eyes, Shinji noticed it but couldn't figure it out was it fear or recognition. She obviously recognized him having been present during the Sachiel and Shamshel case but there was something else when she saw him up close for the first time.

"Ikari"

An uneasy silent fell across the room, Misato noticed this and decided to try some type of conversation.

"So have you been in NERV very long, Agent Ayanami?"

"Yes."

The reply was short and too the point, at that point Misato quickly excused herself, making the excuse she had some paperwork to file, leaving a very uncomfortable Shinji to speak to this young woman.

"Agent Ayanami, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"How come you were present during two of the cases me and Agent Sohryu were working on?"

"I was under instructions from the director to observe you and Agent Sohryu."

"Were you under instructions to attack us as well?"

"I cannot say any more Agent Ikari, have you been looking into my files?"

"What do you mean?"

Rei pointed to the paper Shinji had left on his desk regarding Rei and also to the ID Card that was on his desk.

"Oh that, well sorry it's just you appeared and we didn't know who you were so we did a little digging. Sorry."

"I see."

She walked over to the card and pocketed it, leaving Shinji feeling even more uncomfortable with each moment.

'_Damnit I wish Agent Sohryu was here, she'd at least have some idea what to say. Although a lot of it would be offensive I guess.'_

"So anyway, what do… oh the case."

Rei turned to him and spoke quietly.

"We are to track down a man known as Ramiel, tomorrow he will enter Tokyo 3. The police will set up road blocks on locations he is expected to go to. You will take him out while I act as support."

"Support?"

"Yes, we will take up positions on opposite sides of the street. You will attack him while I act as a diversion and attract his attention."

"Why… How come I haven't been told about this yet?"

"I am unsure, are you uncomfortable with this task?"

"No why wo..."

"Good, the operation will commence tomorrow at Twelve-Hundred hours. Evangelion Units Zero and One will meet at NERV an hour prior to the operation."

Shinji's eyes flickered when he heard that word again, it was the second time he had hear Rei refer to him and her as Evangelion and it still didn't make any sense. Deciding not to go deeper into it he sat down at his desk, plunging the room into an uncomfortable silence once again. A strange thought crept into his mind, he wasn't sure why he was asking this but he just felt a desire to.

"Agent Ayanami, do you know a man by the name of Gendo Rokubungi?"

Shinji definitely noticed something in Rei's face then, wheras it looked void of emotion before it was now almost happy at hearing that name. Maybe he was imagining it but it was almost as if there was some sort of recognition there. She turned to him and spoke softly.

"Yes, he looked after me many years ago and is responsible for my being in NERV. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I just met him last week at the hospital I was in but couldn't find anything else out about him. I was just wondering if anyone else knew him."

"I see."

**Shinji's Apartment – 1815 hours**

Shinji got out of his car and made his way up to his apartment, relieved that he could finally be at home. He held the folder he had been given by Fuyutsuki tightly, wondering if what was inside would actually be of any help. The documents in the folder gave no mention of Agent Ayanami however, yet she seemed to know more than him, or even Misato, on the case.

'_Is she working for the same people Fuyutsuki is working for? Are those the same people with the seven eyed logo and what does Gendo Rokubungi have to do with it all? It doesn't make any sense'_

His thoughts quickly turned to Asuka, he wondered what her case was and the reasons for that. He sighed and put his key into the apartment door and opened the door, just wanting to sit down and relax. As soon as he entered he was struck by a strange sense of foreboding. Something wasn't right in there and he knew it, he quietly entered through the hallway and made his way into the kitchen, the entire place had been ransacked. Cupboards had been opened, papers from the drawers were scattered everywhere. He dashed into his main room and found the TV on with the DVD Player open, DVD Cases were thrown about the room, with even more papers.

'_Were… were they looking for something?'_

He nervously pulled out his gun which was still holstered in his suit jacket and slowly made his way into his own bedroom. It was the same story there, the entire room had been ransacked but nothing had been taken. Shinji made his way back into the main room and began looking through the scattered papers, it was all the stuff on the Shamshel case including all the copies he had made of the profiles on Ayanami and the images of the seven eyed logo. He felt sick as he came across two profile sheets that had been added to the pile, the first was of Misato Katsuragi the second was of Asuka Langley Sohryu.

'_Shit, they know we've been looking into them and they know who we are and have been looking for us. Could it be that folder Fuyutsuki gave me they were looking for?'_

Pulling out his cell and quickly dialing in Misato's number he made his way into his bedroom again and sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to pick up.

'_Come on Misato answer the phone'_

"Hello Katsuragi speaking."

"Misato it's me Shinji, is everything alright over there?"

"Yes I think so why?"

"They were here Misato, they were looking for something, I don't know what, but they thought it was here."

"Who was there?"

"I'll explain later, can I stay at yours for now?"

"I guess so, I have a guest bedroom, what is all this about?"

"I'll explain later, phone me if anything happens."

Just as he hung up he heard a car door slamming outside, Shinji peered out the window and noticed three men in suits making there way into the building.

'_Damnit they've came back'_

He quickly made his way out into the front room and picked up the folder Fuyutsuki had given him and the profiles on Asuka and Misato and put them into the folder. Dashing out of the front door, he heard the voices of the men coming up the stairs, deciding it would not be in his best interests to be spotted by them he headed towards the fire escape at the other end of the corridor. Fear began to rise in him as he made his way out of the window, being careful not to drop the folder in his hand.

Cautiously he made his way down the fire escape, being careful not to make too much noise so as not to alert the people waiting outside his apartment complex. He finally made it to the ground when to his shock he found Rei Ayanami waiting for him.

"Agent Ikari, you must come with me."

"Ayanami? What are you doing here?"

"I have been sent to take you to Katsuragi's place."

Just at that moment two of the men rounded the corner and without speaking, drew out two pistols and fired three shots in both Shinji and Rei's direction. Shinji quickly ducked behind a dumpster but Ayanami instead ran towards the two men. Shinji peered round the corner and watched as she quickly produced a blade and caught one of the men in the stomach. The other man quickly tried to catch Rei but she was too fast for him and was able to dodge his attack.

Fear gripped Shinji as he watched Rei fighting with the two men and he found himself unable to move. The previously wounded man got up and landed a blow directly in Rei's stomach. She fell to her knees and coughed up blood as they edged nearer to her, one of them took his pistol and hit her directly across the face with it. Shinji watched intently, trying to will himself to help.

'_I mustn't run away'_

Rei tried to climb to her feet and produced her blade again, she drove it deep into one of the men and pushed the other away. Just at that moment Shinji made his way out from behind the dumpster and fired off a shot from his pistol at the remaining man, catching him in the shoulder. Overhead he could hear the footsteps of the other two men who had gone up to his apartment.

Shinji looked up and saw them running down the fire escape towards them, one of them fired two shots in his direction. He had no time to move out the way and stood there frozen, waiting for death when suddenly what seemed to be a barrier of light deflected the bullets onto the ground. Standing there, stunned for a moment, he put his hands out in front of him trying to feel for any sort of barrier, he was snapped out of it by Rei pulling him out of the alleyway.

_13th May 2015_

**Barricaded Street – 1200 hours**

Misato looked across at the two agents waiting for the signal to move into position. To say she was scared would be an understatement, she was terrified, not only because of the man they had encountered out there on the streets but because of what had happened to Shinji and Rei last night. She was worried that those men could attack again as soon at any moment and this time they wouldn't let Shinji get away. The thought of losing Shinji scared her deeply. She sighed heavily and moved into the next room, leaving the two agents to talk.

Shinji just stared down at the ground, he was in a strange place at the moment, he wasn't to sure if he was doing the right thing. Last night he had been unable to react when someone he was working with was being attacked and in the past two attacks by these angels he had been incapacitated easily.

'_Why am I still here, to uncover the truth? What truth am I trying to uncover, maybe I should just pack it all in. What use am I to them if I can't even react?'_

He looked over at Rei, her expression was calm yet stern, she merely stared off into the distance. Suddenly Shinji realized that he wished it was Asuka he was sitting beside and not this strange blue haired woman, Asuka always had something to say and was able to make him feel better, even if it was just her calling him an idiot.

"Ayanami, why are you with NERV? I mean knowing how dangerous it is, why do you continue to work for them?"

She looked at him, her eyes seemingly sorrowful and simply spoke four words.

"I have nothing else."

The words hit him hard and he wasn't sure why, maybe it was the reason he was there as well. Sure he always told himself he wanted to know the truth, the truth behind his mother's abduction and the truths the government were hiding from the public, but NERV was all he had known. Even when he was a teenager NERV was there, simply because Misato worked for them and then he got invited into the academy, if he left he had nothing else.

"I see."

Misato then made her way into the room with a stern expression on her face, she handed Shinji and Rei two sniper rifles and began speaking.

"Okay you two, this guy had killed several officers already, so be careful up there. He seems to have some sort of barrier but he needs to be aware of the bullet to project it. Agent Ayanami as per the instructions you will take up position next to Agent Ikari, you will be operating the dummy rifle while Shinji will be operating the main rifle. It has a silencer on it but we're not sure if it'll be of any use. It needs to be charged up but we have been told it should penetrate this person's barrier, but it's a long recharge process, so try to get him on the first shot."

"Yes Misato."

"If he is aware of you he will shoot you, this guy has shot down our snipers in the choppers circling so try not to make him aware of you. Please, for the love of god, don't die out there."

The two of them nodded and made their way up the stairs to the next floor, the entire room was abandoned, save for the two rifles. Shinji nervously made his way over to the rifle and slipped his headset on. The rifle felt very heavy and was a new type of rifle, it was experimental technology given to NERV by the Japanese Government weapons research lab. Instead of using traditional ammo it fired a pulse of energy at the target, rendering it dead. Unfortunately it was a slow process between reloading as the rifle needed time to cool down from the previous shot.

Shinji lifted the rifle and flipped the switch, a display appeared where you would load the bullets into on a normal rifle. It showed a bar charging up, similar to that of a laptop power status bar. He raised the rifle to the window and pointed it out across the desolate street. The entire block had been evacuated, even the people monitoring the police barricades had left. Above him he heard the sound of a helicopter taking off and just then Misato's voice came over his headset.

"_Ok Shinji, we've cleared the building, it's up to you and Agent Ayanami now."_

"Okay, the rifle is charging."

Shinji lowered his eye to the scope and looked through it, just as he did so he saw the figure of Ramiel enter the street. Holding a pistol in each hand, the man was huge, if it wasn't for the barrier deflecting everything he would have been captured ages ago even despite the mans aiming. Shinji tightened his grip on the rifle and lined up the scope with Ramiel's head.

"Rei, I'm ready."

Rei fired a shot directly at Ramiel catching his attention, the bullet merely bounced off of his field. Ramiel aimed one pistol at Reis direction and fired a shot, this was when Shinji took his chance' he fired a blast from the rifle aiming it directly at Ramiel's head' when Ramiel quickly spun round noticing the blast coming towards him and fired a shot of his own directly into the center of the pulse of energy' sending it off course and into the ground beside him.

Shinji quickly pulled the rifle out of the window and ducked behind the wall' narrowly missing the bullet that flew past him. He quickly set the rifle to recharge' cursing under his breath.

"Shit Shit Shit, that wasn't meant to happen, how could someone be that precise?"

He impatiently growled as he watched the rifles status bar recharge, knowing Ramiel was still outside waiting to take his shot. After what seemed like an eternity the rifle finished recharging. He looked over at Rei who was still ducked behind the wall, she looked at Shinji and spoke softly.

"Goodbye… Shinji."

With those words she swung out of the cover and began firing at Ramiel.

"Rei what are you doi…"

He watched in shock as a bullet hit Rei in the arm, but she kept on firing. Shinji quickly got up and tried to get Ramiel in his scope again, praying that this time he would be able to hit him. He lined up the target in his scope and fired off his second shot, closing his eyes waiting for it to be over. Next to him he heard Rei's body slump to the ground as he fell to his knees with his eyes clamped shut tightly.

After a minute of just kneeling there motionless, he peered out over the edge, the blast had taken down Ramiel and a sense of relief washed over him. Shinji collapsed to the ground and threw the rifle to the side. He looked across and was horrified to see Rei lying motionless on the ground.

"Ayanami"

He ran over to her and turned her over, thankfully she was still breathing. Shinji felt a tear rolling down his cheek as she looked up into his eyes.

"Why… why are you crying?"

"I thought… because I'm glad you're alive."

"Should I be crying too?"

"No, you should be smiling Ayanami, because you're alive."

**NERV Helicopter**

"What happened, are you both okay?"

"_We're fine, Ayanami was shot in the arm but the target has gone down."_

"Good, we're inbound on your position now, pick up should be in five minutes."

Misato switched the headset off and breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. If she was being honest she didn't even expect the operation to be a success, the fact that it was a success was nothing short of a miracle.

'_Damn, I need a drink after this'_

Just at that moment her cellphone went off, she curiously picked it up and spoke into it.

"Katsuragi speaking?"

"_It's Agent Sohryu I'm here with Agent Kaji, look is Ikari there?"_

"We're inbound to his position now, why you missing him already?"

"_No, this is serious. Look do not tell him this yet Kaji has just given me some important information regarding Shinji that I think you should know."_

"Can't it wait, we're in the middle of an operation here?"

"_No it can't I don't have much time, Misato listen to me, whatever you do, do not tell Shinji this."_

"Okay, okay what is it?"

"_Misato, Gendo Rokubungi is Shinji's fath…"_

The call ended abruptly with a loud noise, Misato stood there, open mouthed, wondering what the Agent was about to say and wondering what the noise was. She realized that the call was still going and the noise sounded again.

'_A gunshot?'_


	8. Over The Rainbow

_12th May 2015_

**Yokohama Airport – 1000 hours**

Asuka stepped off the plane, taking a look around the terminal, immediately noticing just how similar it was to the one she had been stuck in at Tokyo 3 for most of the night. She hoisted her small travel bag over her shoulder and moved through the terminal to where she was supposed to meet Kaji.

'_I only hope he got my message that the plane was delayed, stupid flights, nothing ever goes right.'_

She flashed her NERV ID at one of the security guards at the customs area and was immediately put straight through, much to her surprise and the disgruntlement of the rest of the people waiting in the queue. Making sure there wasn't some sort of mistake she questioned the security guard who had just put her straight through.

"Is something going on here, NERV Agents aren't usually fast tracked like this?"

"You are Miss Asuka Langley Sohryu aren't you?"

"Yeah..."

"Then come with us, we've been given orders to get you through here as soon as possible, it seems you're a very special VIP Miss Sohryu."

Asuka grinned widely at hearing the security officer say those words, if there was ever a good way to inflate someone's ego, saying that is one of them.

"I see, well lead the way."

"Yes Ma'am."

He led her straight through the terminal, bypassing any customs or security checks along the way. Asuka couldn't help but smile when she caught a look at all the angry faces of the passengers who had to wait at all the security checkpoints. Taking a look around as they moved quickly through the corridors and rooms she couldn't help but notice an increased security presence in the terminal.

"Excuse me, but what's with all the increased security today?"

"I haven't been told, we were just told to escort you through the terminal."

He continued leading the way until they got into the entrance area of the terminal, the security guard promptly left her and she looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kaji. She looked around at the mass of people and then heard a voice to her left, she spun around and smiled again sure enough he was there and he hadn't changed a bit from when Asuka had last seen him. She shouted his name and ran over towards him, hugging him tightly.

"Kaji!"

"Asuka, or should I say Agent Sohryu now?"

"Asuka is fine"

Kaji took a look at her, he was surprised at how much she had changed over the past ten years. He actually had to wonder if this was the same girl he had looked after, the same girl who had the schoolgirl crush on him and thought every other male except for him was a pervert, the same Asuka who built a wall around, herself not letting anyone through.

_Maybe people do change._

"So how is NERV treating you?"

"It's good, although they've got me stuck in Tokyo 3 at the moment working on special cases dealing with 'the unexplained' and my partner is a bit weird."

Kaji laughed.

"And who are you working with?"

"Shinji Ikari."

Kaji stopped in his tracks, Ikari it was a name he hadn't heard for some time, not since he joined NERV and not since he dated…

'_Katsuragi'_

"Shinji Ikari, tell me is it the same Shinji Ikari who..."

"…Misato Katsuragi was the guardian of? Yes the very same, Misato is our director of operations."

"I see, what a coincidence that we all meet again."

"I suppose so, but you're only here for this one case aren't you?"

"Nope, after this case I'm being assigned to NERV Tokyo 3. I won't be working in the same area as you and Shinji but I'm being assigned there anyway."

"Great, so what are we here for?"

"I'll explain when we get back to the NERV Branch here, but what do you say we go get something to eat first. Doesn't seem right launching a pretty young agent like you straight into work when she's just flown in."

Asuka smiled and felt herself glowing red, she might have changed a bit in the past ten years but this was definitely the same Kaji she had a schoolgirl crush on all that time ago. She nodded and followed him out the airport towards the waiting car.

**NERV Yokohama – 1230 hours**

Yokohama's branch of NERV was more grand and majestic than the branch in Tokyo 3. Whereas Tokyo-3's branch was a huge tower situated in the center of the city, the Yokohama branch was a smaller, four leveled building situated just outside one of Yokohama's parks. It served as an amazing contrast to what Asuka was used to. She stepped out of the car and removed her sunglasses, another thing she had quickly came to like about Yokohama was it was a lot brighter than Tokyo 3.

'_I almost wish I had been assigned here in the first place'_

She followed Kaji through into the main building, even the interior was incredibly different. Everything looked so new, clean and welcoming, it was almost as if she was visiting one of those huge English mansions she had read about and not going to work. She couldn't help but make a comment about it to Kaji.

"This place is so different to the Tokyo 3 branch."

He laughed and quickly replied.

"It's different to most of the other NERV Branches throughout Japan, after the impact incident fifteen years ago NERV Tokyo had to move its HQ and the Japanese Government gave them lease of this place which was originally a palace, it wasn't until a year or two after the impact incident when NERV relocated its main HQ to Tokyo 3."

"I see, they should have kept the main HQ here."

"Too many important people live in Tokyo-3 Asuka, it had to be there, especially with that being Japan's capital now."

The made their way into Kaji's office and he immediately sat down behind his desk, Asuka found a seat near to the desk and pulled it across, wondering if she was now going to find out her reason for being in Yokohama. Sure enough Kaji pulled out a folder from his desk and handed it to Asuka.

"Asuka, before you open that I need to know something, you don't get seasick do you?"

"No, what does that have to do with this?"

She opened the folder and took a look at the front document, it was a similar document to the one her and Shinji had been given during the Shamshel case.

"_For Agents Sohryu and Kaji,_

_  
NERV has recently become aware of a terrorist threat about to move into Japan, we believe this person, who goes by the alias of Gaghiel, is plotting to cause a widespread disturbance in the cities of Yokohama, Tokyo 3 and Matsushiro. We have reason to believe he is hiding away on a UN Navy Ship, The USS Over The Rainbow, this ship is currently part of a fleet carrying various nuclear weapons towards Japan, should these weapons fall into Gaghiel's hands the entire country of Japan is at risk._

_He has not made any demands as of yet but the US Government are also tracking him and have reason to believe he was behind the bombing of a facility in Nevada just under a year ago. Target is incredibly dangerous and must be stopped by any means necessary, you will both rendezvous with a helicopter pilot at 1030 hours on the 13th May and he will fly you both on board the Over The Rainbow._

_The crew are not aware of your reasons for being there, you are there under the pretences of an emergency inspection by the Japanese Government. Enclosed are two passes which should give you free roam of the ship. You are to apprehend Gaghiel and bring him back by any means necessary._

_Signed_

_Director of NERV"_

Strangely enough the letter ended there, the name of the director had been blurred out, Asuka turned to Kaji and enquired about this.

"Has this letter been tampered with since you received it?"

He looked at the blurred name and frowned slightly.

"No that's how it arrived, probably an error in the printing."

"I see, so who is this person we're after?"

"We don't have much to go on, not even a picture of the supposed suspect, all we know is the identity of him. NERV believes he is the head of a small terrorist organization responsible for the bombing of an American Government facility in Nevada last year and we also have reason to believe he was associated with the Tokyo 2 attacks."

"You mean the poisoned water supply? That was a terrorist attack?"

"Publicly no, but NERV believes it was the act of his group. However, to not cause widespread panic they have not released this information until they can be sure. It now seems this person has snuck into the fleet."

Kaji looked up and suddenly noticed Asuka clutching her head, apparently in some sort of pain. He frowned and moved around to her, putting his arm around her.

"Asuka, are you feeling alright?"

"I... I'm fine, What's the fleet carrying?"

"Nuclear Weapons, that's why NERV needs him taken care of."

"I see."

"Asuka maybe it'd be best for you to go back to your motel and get some rest for tomorrow, you don't look very well at all, you've gone extremely pale."

"No I'm fine, don't worry about it."

She stood up and immediately lurched forward, she put her hands out on Kaji's desk trying to stop herself from collapsing. Her vision became blurred, she felt Kaji's hand steering her back down towards the chair she was previously sitting on. Nausea overwhelmed her as she sat down.

"Asuka there's something wrong, look don't worry about it I'll drive you back to your hotel."

"No really I'm fine, it's not to far from here anyway."

She stood up and Kaji tried to steady her, she turned to face him and swatted his hands away.

"I told you I'm fine, just... leave me alone, ok. I'll see you tomorrow"

She ran out of the room leaving Kaji standing there frowning and thinking to himself.

'_Maybe some people don't change so easily'._

He took a look at the front sheet of the document once again before looking towards where Asuka had just left.

'_Ikari what are you going to put those two through?'_

**Motel Room – 1940 hours**

Asuka lay in the bath, desperately trying to will her headache to leave her, she had hoped taking a bath would help ease the headache and the feeling of nausea in her stomach but it was to no avail. Ever since she had left the NERV Offices the feeling had only gotten worse. She got out of the bath and quickly dried herself off before moving into the bedroom, not bothering to put any clothes on. She stood in front of the full length mirror in the room and looked herself over, her entire body had turned pale. Another pain shot across her stomach, bringing her to her knees.

'_Stupid fucking pain why won't it go, why me?'_

She screamed out and knocked the bedside table over in frustration, tears threatened to form but she quickly blinked them away before pain shot through her stomach again. She quickly dashed back into the bathroom overwhelmed by nausea, she held her stomach and lurched forward, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She fell back onto the cold tiles and breathed deeply as her stomach began to settle down. Unable to stand, she made her way back into the bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror.

'_Disgusting…'_

She felt herself at the brink of passing out and looked up at the mirror, she was a complete mess. Sweat was pouring down her face and her body had grown even paler over the last ten minutes. As she stared at herself she could have sworn she saw something moving inside her, right from the center of her breasts down to her stomach. She blinked and fell to the floor uttering only one word.

"Mama…"

_13th May 2015_

**Yokohama Docks – 1030 hours**

Kaji stepped out of the car and looked out across the docks, sure enough Asuka was there waiting for him. He was surprised at how different she looked from yesterday, especially after the incident in the office. She looked up and peered through her dark sunglasses at him and called him over.

"Kaji! Over here."

"Hold on a minute."

He pulled his suit jacket on and then quickly made his way over towards Asuka, he studied her carefully. She still looked pale but he couldn't get a good look at her as she stood with her back to him. He frowned realizing what she was doing.

"So are you ready for this?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason, I was just wondering because you didn't seem to be well yesterday."

She glared at him through her sunglasses and replied angrily, her headache not helping matters.

"There was nothing wrong with me yesterday and there's nothing wrong with me now, can we just drop the subject."

Kaji knew she was lying but he also knew there was nothing he could do to get her to admit it, he decided it would be best to drop the subject. He decided to move onto the subject at hand as he heard the chopper approaching.

"You're aware of what needs to be done aren't you?"

"Of course, we go onto the ship capture the person and come back. It'll be easy."

"Let's not be overconfident here, this is a dangerous individual."

"Whatever."

She stared out towards the incoming chopper and felt a sharp pain through her stomach again. The chopped flew overhead and set itself down on the helipad nearby, before she got a chance to move towards it Kaji put his hand out and stopped her, smiling down at her.

"Look Asuka, sorry if I said something wrong, I'm just concerned for you, it's been ten years and I don't want something to happen to you."

"I told you it's nothing, just well just personal stuff."

"Oh I see, I'll just uhh, drop the subject then."

"Thank you."

He followed her into the chopper and took a seat opposite her, frowning as he watched her trying to hide herself from rubbing her head.

'_You're good at lying Asuka but you can't fool me, I know there's something wrong. The serum is taking full effect on you, but you don't know you've got it inside you, your pride won't let you admit you're not well.'_

**USS Over the Rainbow – 1115 hours**

Asuka looked out over the ocean, taking a look at the fleet they were approaching, the ship they were to be landing on was a huge aircraft carrier. On the front she could see various missiles covered in white sheets. Just as there were about to land she felt another sharp pain shoot through her head.

"Well here we are."

She looked across at Kaji who was smiling at her, she smiled back at him and got herself ready to exit the chopper. It came to a halt and landed softly on the ships desk, allowing both her and Kaji to exit quickly, as soon as they exited it pulled back up and headed away from the fleet.

"Why isn't it waiting for us?"

"Too risky, if Gaghiel gets his hands on it he can escape, we want to try to avoid that. Also try to avoid weapons fire on board the ships deck, we can't risk setting off one of these weapons."

"Yes, yes I understand."

As they walked off the helipad they were immediately stopped by a man in a UN Uniform.

"Excuse me, no civilians on deck."

Asuka pulled out her ID, Kaji quickly followed suit.

"We're NERV agents, I believe your admiral was expecting us."

He looked at her sternly and barked back.

"I am the Admiral, so you're who NERV have sent. There's no point if they had given me the chance we could have captured this person easily. Damn NERV, always having to stick their noses in."

"Sorry but…"

"Yeah well just don't forget you're on my ship and I'm in command of this fleet. I don't care what your government says, just don't get in our crews way and don't go down into the lower decks."

"We have authorization from NERV and the UN to have free reign of the ship tho…"

"Well I'm not the UN am I, while you're on my ship you abide by my rules and the lower decks are off limits. Now go and find your 'suspect'."

Asuka glared at him trying to restrain herself from tearing the Admiral apart, luckily Kaji stepped in between them both.

"We will thank you, Admiral."

They quickly made their way away from the Admiral and towards the quarters they had been temporarily assigned. Along the way Kaji decided to ask about the Shamshel incident and what happened before she arrived.

"You know before you flew out here, I read up on the Shamshel incident."

Asuka raised her eyebrow and replied casually.

"I thought those case details weren't to be shown to anyone?"

"I was granted access due to the delicate nature of this case and the previous one."

"I see, so what did you think?"

"I was impressed with yours and Ikari's performance, capturing someone like that on what must be only your third case together is impressive."

"Maybe, there are still a few things I don't understand about it."

"Oh?"

"Well yeah, how come we got congratulated on the case but there was no body when I arrived. Also something about 'Agent Ayanami' doesn't add up either."

"Maybe you're just being paranoid."

"No I'm just being cautious, Agent Ikari is the paranoid one."

"How so?"

"Well he seems to be finding problems everywhere, while I agree there's something wrong with the supposed 'Agent Ayanami' and various other things we've seen he wants to examine everything. He even tried to look into the guy who ran the hospital we were at."

"Why would he do that?"

"Well his excuse was something didn't add up because he was the only patient there, and they got him there a bit quickly. So he decided to look up on the administrator, a Gendo Rokubungi I believe it was."

Kaji stopped in his tracks and shot her a worried glance.

"Sorry, what was that name again?"

"Gendo Rokubungi, I know, stupid isn't it."

"No, Asuka get into your quarters quickly, there's something we need to discuss about Agent Ikari."

**Asuka's Quarters – 1130 hours**

She felt herself being pushed into the quarters by Kaji, he quickly turned and locked the door shut and turned to her with a worried look on his face. She took off her sunglasses and stared at him through her blue eyes.

"Just what is this about Kaji, you're acting worse than Ikari."

"Be quiet, this is important Asuka."

He reached around the desk and pulled out what appeared to be a small monitoring device. Shocked, she leapt up but immediately went back down, clutching her stomach in pain.

"Kaji… what… what is that?"

"It's an audio monitoring device, there's something important I have to tell you Asuka, about Mr Rokubungi and also about you."

"What do you mean about me? I'm fine I already told you that"

"No Asuka you're not look, just sit on the bed I'll explain what I can."

He looked at her as she got to her feet and sat down on the bed holding her stomach. She jolted as pain shot through her again, she spoke, although barely whispering.

"Ok, I'm listening just explain."

"Asuka this entire thing today, Gaghiel, it's related to Shamshel and Sachiel. It's also related to what Shinji is doing in Tokyo 3 at the moment to do with a person called Ramiel, I can't explain much more than that."

"What does that have to do with, Rokubungi or what's wrong with me?"

"So you're admitting it now?"

"I don't have any fucking choice do I, after collapsing in front of you. Just explain."

"Asuka what's happening to you is no accident, you're suffering exactly the same effects as Shinji. I don't know what is causing it but I do know that it's the same thing."

"How do you… how do you know this?"

"I'm a little bit higher up in NERV than you've been lead to believe, I shouldn't be revealing this to you but if Shinji or Misato find out later they'll never forgive me."

"Find out what?"

She heaved forward and nearly threw up all over the floor, Kaji put his arm around her shoulder and held her gently. Asuka forced back the tears in her eyes and let her head lie gently on his shoulder.

"Asuka, has Misato told you about Shinji's past."

She nodded not daring to speak.

"You know his mother died when he was young right, and his father abandoned him. Well his father was a man named Gendo Ikari."

"What does that have to do with Gendo Rokubungi, there must be millions of people named Gendo in Japan."

"Yes but Gendo Ikari took his wife's last name, Gendo's original name was Rokubungi. The man you saw at the hospital was Shinji..."

She whispered the word finishing Kaji's sentence for him

"...father?"

"Yes."

"How come Shinji didn't know that his father used to be called Rokubungi?"

"Not many people do."

"But why was he..."

They were cut off by a loud noise from outside the quarters, Kaji cautiously stood up and withdrew his gun. He switched the safety off and stood next to the entrance, looking in towards Asuka who was standing near him.

"No Asuka, you stay here, phone Katsuragi and inform her we have a potential situation here and tell her what I've just told you about Rokubungi, it's important Shinji finds out. I'll go and investigate."

"I'll come with you, I'm fine now."

"No you're not, I'm ranked higher than you so I'm ordering you to stay here and contact Misato."

"Fine I'll contact her, but if you don't come back within half an hour I'm coming after you."

"Okay, deal."

He smiled at her and opened the door and stepped out onto the deck, closing it behind him. Immediately after he left, Asuka withdrew her gun and also her cellphone, she dialed in Misato's number and made her way over to the door, opening it slightly.

'_Idiot thinks I can't handle it, I'll show them all that I can handle it.'_

The phone rang for a few times until it was eventually picked up, she heard Misato's voice speaking as she stepped out into the corridor.

"_Katsuragi speaking."_

"It's Agent Sohryu, I'm here with Agent Kaji, look is Ikari there?"

_  
"We're inbound to his position now, why you missing him already?"_

"No, this is serious. Look, do not tell him this yet, Kaji has just given me some important information regarding Shinji that I think you should know."

"_Can't it wait, we're in the middle of an operation here?"_

"No it can't I don't have much time, Misato listen to me, whatever you do, do not tell Shinji this."

"_Okay, okay what is it?"_

"Misato, Gendo Rokubungi is Shinji's fath…"

Asuka dropped the phone as she felt someone grabbing hold of her, she quickly spun round and found herself standing face to face with the Admiral from before. Without giving her a chance to do anything he swiftly delivered a kick to her stomach and sent her flying back into her quarters.

"What's the matter little girl, not feeling so confident now are you?"

"You asshole, I should have known."

She pointed her gun at him and smiled, before firing a shot directly at him, immediately afterwards she felt pain shoot through her again and another wave of nausea. She threw up as she heard the man crying out in pain from the gun shot. He moved towards her and picked her up off of the floor, gripping his hand around her throat.

"Look what you done, you messed up my ship you little bitch. I'll have to make you pay for that."

He pulled the bullet out of his arm and the wound regenerated itself instantly.

"I can't believe NERV would send someone as pathetic as you after me, I suppose they didn't even tell you what I am. Just apprehend the one known as Gaghiel."

"Go…to…hell."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you, Sohryu, that arrogance like that would be your downfall?"

"I said… go… to… hell."

He stepped back for a moment and threw his fist forward towards her stomach again, only this time he was stopped. Gaghiel stepped back in shock as he looked at the barrier of light that had just formed between them.

"An A.T. Field, so you are one of them. Shame you're in no condition to persue me then."

Asuka felt herself sliding down the wall as she watched him walking out of the room. Her vision began to blur again as she felt herself passing out, this time muttering in anger.

"I'll kill you… I'll fucking kill you."

**Laboratory – 1215 hours**

When Asuka awoke she felt the cold steel floor beneath her and realized she was no longer in her quarters. She opened her eyes and stood up, looking around at her surroundings. Above her she could hear the ships alarm going off and a chopper flying overhead. Slowly she made her way towards the exit of the room and tried to force the door open, only to find it locked.

A cold shudder ran down her spine and she turned around, trying to look for another way out. All around the room tables with various vials and various laboratory equipment, it immediately hit her.

'_This is why he didn't want us in the lower decks'_

Asuka made her way over to one of the tables and examined the vial, inside was a strange yet oddly familiar orange liquid. On it the label read 'LCL Sample #132' accompanying the words was the seven eyed logo she had already seen so many times in the past. The memories of the past few weeks rushed through her mind, Sachiel, The Medical facility, Shamshel, Shinji's father, the attack by Gaghiel and now this. She put the vial into her pocket and reached around for her pistol.

"Looking for something, Agent Sohryu?"

She spun around trying to locate the source of the voice.

"What is this place?"

"This is where the future of mankind is held Miss Sohryu, one of many locations. You've already visited two so recently."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come, surely you remember, the location where you were turned into one of us, where you and Agent Ikari killed two of my brethren."

"Turned into one of you, I'm nothing like you."

"We're more alike than you imagine Agent Sohryu, we're strong while everyone else is weak. We're evolving while everyone else is stagnating, we are the new breed of humanity."

"I am nothing like you."

"Believe what you will, but you are turning your back on a great opportunity. If it is death you truly desire though, I shall grant it."

She spun around just in time to find Gaghiel running towards her, taking her down to the ground, he quickly got back up and taunted her.

"What's wrong Sohryu, can't use your A.T. Field?"

He delivered a swift kick to her stomach, causing her to double over in pain. She swung her arm around trying to fight back but he quickly swept it away. In one quick motion he picked her up by her hair and threw her onto one of the lab tables. She felt the cracks of the test tubes and equipment breaking beneath her as she screamed out in pain.

"What's the matter little girl, no mommy to save you?"

Asuka felt him grab her by the wrist and slide her off, his words echoing in her mind. She felt rage burning away inside her, turned towards him and using as much strength as she could pulled him towards her.

"Die you bastard."

She screamed out as he went to deliver another punch to her, only to be blocked by the barrier of light. He looked up at her, stunned as she walked towards him, delving a kick of her down directly to the man's face, blood splattered everywhere as the man taunted her.

"Now that's more like it, come on Sohryu, use your A.T. Field, show me what you've got."

She snarled and leapt at him, delivering blow after blow to his head, she was lost in a frenzy of attacks. He grabbed hold of her by the throat and threw her back towards the table, she hit it with full force, the sound of her body hitting the cold steel echoing around the room. Asuka turned to her side, coughing up blood. Feeling him getting closer she felt around for anything to stop his brutal attack, she clambered around the lab table and found a vial of the LCL. Without thinking she smashed it directly into his forehead and into one of his eyes.

Blood was flowing freely down the mans face as he stumbled backwards trying to see, she felt blood trickling down her own hand from the glass going in but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was kill the person in front of her, she moved towards him and reached out with her hands and clasped them tightly around his throat, repeating the same sentence.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you"

After several minutes of standing there with her hands clamped around his neck she felt his body stiffen and slump to the floor. She immediately let go and stumbled backwards, pain shooting through her. Her hands stung from the glass shards stuck inside and blood was trickling from her mouth, but she didn't care. Slowly she made her way over to the door and back up towards the ships deck.

**Hanger – 1245 hours**

"Agent Sohryu!"

She spun around towards where the voice was coming from and looked over towards the hanger. Standing next to a waiting chopper was Misato and Shinji. Slowly making her way towards them she looked around for any sign of Kaji. Unable to see him she began to move quicker towards them both and immediately wrapped her arms around Shinji, nearly collapsing to the floor.

Shinji, unsure of what to do, put his arm's around her and embraced her tightly, then something strange happened. He felt her slipping something inside his inside jacket pocket. She let go of him and looked into his eyes giving him a knowing smile, he simply smiled back.

"What happened down there, you're a mess?"

""I… was attacked by Gaghiel, he was on board as the Admiral. He's down in the lab's now."

"I see, I'll go and check, you two stay here."

Misato ran off towards the lab's, leaving the two of them standing there in complete silence. Asuka felt her eyes going heavy so she sat down inside the chopper, Shinji followed her with a concerned look.

"Are you alright?"

"Not you as well, I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me."

"Of course there is, you're bleeding Sohryu."

It's nothing I'll get it seen to when we get back. Agent Ikari, did Misato give you my message?"

"No, she just said there was an incident here, why what message?"

She breathed deeply knowing she had to tell him, she reached out and pulled him towards her and sat him down.

"Shinji, Gendo Rokubungi… he's your father."


	9. Impact

_30th December 2000_

**Japanese Government Facility – 2330hours**

"What is the status on Adam?"

"He is…stable at the moment, we currently have him sedated and our computers are also tracking the other specimens. We are ready to move onto phase two of the operation, if you would like to come with me, Director."

"Of course."

The director stood up and took one final look around his office and smiled at the man who stood at the other side of the room. A light from one of the choppers overhead shone through the window illuminating the entire room, he took a step forward and made his way out into the corridor, continuing his conversation with the man.

"Is Keel still here?"

"No Sir, Keel and the rest of the committee left just over an hour ago."

"So they are not staying to see the beginning?"

"They are watching from a location outside of Tokyo 3, just in case one of the specimens returns."

"Of course, they would want to play it safe."

They made their way into one of the facilities laboratories, this laboratory was the largest within the facility, along the walls were tanks filled with an orange liquid and inside were various humanoids in different stages of growth. The director stopped when they passed by one tank, inside was a fourteen year old girl, her blue hair shimmered in the orange liquid. He reached up and began typing on the keypad next to the tank, the man accompanying stopped and looked at him.

"Sir what are you doing? SEELE's instructions were to leave everything here and resume the genetic modification procedures elsewhere."

"SEELE aren't here are they?"

"No but still we can…"

He was cut off suddenly when the director pulled a gun out and pointed it at him, he turned to face him. The director spoke again this time sounding fiercer.

"If you wish to stop me go ahead, I think you'll find however that the people left here are under my command and not SEELE's."

"Sir if you do that I'll have to inform Ke…"

The sound of the shot echoed around the laboratory as the man slumped to the ground, blood pouring from the gunshot wound. As the director finished putting in the commands on the keypad another person stepped into the area, this time a brown haired scientist. She looked at the body on the floor and then to the director and smiled.

"Did he try to stop you?"

"He threatened to tell Keel"

"Unfortunate, I'm sure he would have made a good test subject for Project E."

"You will have plenty of test subjects later Naoko, why are you here?"

"I came to find you, Fuyutsuki is at the chopper with my daughter. We're preparing to leave the facility."

"Tell them I will be along in a minute, there is something I must do."

Naoko looked at him and then to the tank he was opening, a look of disgust appeared across her face, but she quickly disguised it. She turned and made her way out of the laboratory, leaving the director and the person he was helping out of the tank.

"Rei, we're leaving."

"Yes sir."

He took off his jacket and gave it to the young girl to put on and they quickly moved out of the laboratory. A few moments later they were outside on the roof of the facility, a chopper waiting for them along with three other people. Naoko, a young blonde haired girl and an older grey haired man. The man stepped forward and spoke to the director.

"Director Ikari, quickly, we don't have much time."

"Of course Fuyutsuki, I was just getting Rei."

Fuyutsuki looked down at the Blue Haired girl who was wearing only Ikari's jackets and frowned slightly.

"Ikari, you know Keel will not be pleased with this."

"Of course I do, but we cannot afford to leave Rei behind. She is the key to project E."

"I understand, was a survivor chosen?"

"Yes a young woman, the daughter of one of the head scientists here, Dr Katsuragi's daughter. All has been taken care of and the beacons are set up, all we have to do now is activate Adam."

"Doctor Akagi has the Magi system logged in and ready, we will activate when we reach the outskirts of Tokyo."

"Lets proceed then."

_16th May 2015_

**Katsuragi Residence – 1720 hours**

"_2015 marks the fifteenth year since the 'Impact Incident' a deadly explosion which took out most of Old Tokyo. It is believed the explosion was caused by a malfunction at the Gehirn research facilities in the heart of Tokyo, however even to this day scientists have not been able to return to Tokyo due to the radiation that surrounds the area and the city itself._

_The Japanese Prime Minister has recently made preparations for a special memorial service on the 30th December to mark the 15th Anniversary of the incident many are calling the biggest disaster in human history. The entire city of Tokyo was turned into a ghost town with no survivors…."_

Misato switched the TV off and threw the remote down to the floor sighing to herself.

'_Yeah...no survivors except one.'_

She made her way into the kitchen and pulled another beer out of the fridge, she gazed over towards Shinji's room as she took a seat at the table. Despite them living together again she had barely heard from Shinji since they got back from the Over The Rainbow. She had seen him at NERV but they barely exchanged words, Misato knew it was because of what Asuka told him.

'_He's just like he was thirteen years ago, shutting himself away and not talking to anyone, he's barely spoke to me at work and he only comes out for dinner. He's twenty seven not fourteen, he needs to learn to deal with this.'_

Misato stood up and made her way over to the door, she tapped on it lightly and spoke through it.

"Shinji, I'm coming inside."

There was no response so she slowly opened the door and peered inside, the room was just as tidy as it was when Shinji arrived. She looked over towards the bed and looked on in shock when she realized Shinji was not there. His possessions were still in the sports bag on the bed but Shinji had left. Tears burnt the back of her eyes as she looked around whispering to herself.

"No… don't do this to yourself Shinji."

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve she made her way back into the kitchen and picked up her cellphone dialing in Asuka's number. It rang for a few times before she picked up.

"_Hello."_

"Agent Sohryu, its Katsuragi have you seen Shinji today?"

"_No, you guys still won't let me go back to work remember, something to do with the injuries I got and subsequently healed from."_

"Sorry I forgot, have you heard from him at all?"

"_No. Why what's happened?"_

"He's run away again?"

"_What do you mean again?"_

"When I first took him in thirteen years ago I quickly found out that if something was troubling him he would run away from the problem. He did it a few times before I finally managed to convince him to face his problems, but after what you told him I think he's started again."

"_How do you know he has run away, maybe he's working late or something?"_

"No he wasn't at work today, he wasn't here when I woke up, and his stuff is still in the bag on his bed, he hasn't been in there since yesterday."

"_Well he's an adult it's up to him, if the idiot is going to do that then it's up to him."_

"I know but I just get the feeling he's in trouble."

"_Have you tried contacting him?"_

"Yeah, but his cell phone is switched off."

From the other end Misato heard Asuka sighing heavily.

"_He's probably with Wondergirl."_

"Wondergirl?"

"_Yeah Agent Ayanami, I'm going to start calling her that because I'm still wondering who the hell she is and how she got away with attacking me."_

"Agent Sohryu please be serious I'm worried about him, I think what you said to him messed him up."

"_More than he already is you mean?"_

Misato was now nearly shouting down the phone, trying her best not to break down.

"Agent Sohryu!"

"_Okay I'm sorry, but I'm not taking the blame for saying that. He needed to be told if I didn't tell him, no one else would have."_

"You were too blunt though, you saw what he was like on the flight back."

"_Look I'll meet you at the offices okay? We'll see if he's been there, but you need to stop treating him like a kid, despite being an idiot he is capable of handling himself."_

"I suppose you're right, I'll meet you there in half an hour then."

_30th December 2000_

**Streets of Tokyo -2350 hours**

A huge explosion rocked the street as a young Misato Katsuragi stumbled out of her apartment block. She looked out towards the center of the city, entire buildings had collapsed and smoke poured from those still standing. She stumbled onto the street and was suddenly swept into the crowd of moving people, all of them racing in a panicked frenzy trying to get out of the city.

As she tried to keep up with the crowd she felt something shoving her out of the way, she quickly fell to the floor screaming out in pain. She scrambled over to the side of the street as best she could to try to avoid being trampled on by the thousands moving through the city. She looked out towards the center and saw a huge pillar of light hovering over a building, she blinked and then looked on in fear realizing just what the light was hovering over.

'_GEHIRN… FATHER!'_

She rushed back out onto the street and tried to make her way towards the light only to be dragged along by the crowd again. Suddenly the light vanished and the sound of a huge explosion tore through the sky, everyone on the street began screaming even louder. Misato stood on watching as flames and smoke rose from the area where the light previously was.

'_No… please don't let it be GEHIRN'_

Several more explosions sounded off all around her as she tried her best to fight through the streets towards where Gehirn was located. All around her people were screaming, women, men, children, all of them screaming and running. She moved onto one of the main roads and straight into another crowd of people, a white flash tore through the sky causing everyone to stop and stare towards the center of Toyko. Two of what appeared to be lightning bolts were coming down from the sky, they broke into what seemed to be wings. Misato looked up at this beautiful yet disturbing image, more explosions tore through the city, this time even closer to Misato's location.

A huge sound was heard overhead as a light swept through the street, similar to a helicopters spotlight. Misato covered her eyes as the light shone directly in her eyes getting closer. A rumbling sound could be heard above her as the light stopped moving directly over the street. Everyone at that moment looked up at the huge object which was above them, Misato being no exception. She closed her eyes as she felt herself being pulled upwards by some strange external force.

'_What... What is happening to me?'_

_17th May 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1750 hours**

Lightning flashed through the sky as Misato brought her car to a halt in the NERV carpark, she stepped out the car and looked across the parking lot and noticed Asuka's car parked nearby. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made her way into the building and down towards the offices. When she opened the door to the office she found Asuka stood over by Shinji's desk looking through documents and sipping from a cup of coffee. She looked down as Asuka's bandaged hand from two days ago and frowned.

"Agent Sohryu, glad you could make it."

Asuka turned towards her and nodded and then looked back at the documents before taking another sip from the cup. Misato watched her unsure of what to say instead she just watched the woman as an uneasy silence fell upon the room. It was eventually broken by Asuka speaking.

"He's been here."

"How do you know?"

"All the files from the recent cases Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel even what just happened to me on the Over The Rainbow were all here on his desk. He's got profiles of both Gendo Rokubungi and Gendo Ikari, I know what you're going to say but I'm still not taking the blame for him running off, would you preferred for him not to have found out?"

Misato looked at her and shook her head as a tear rolled down her face.

"Agent Soh… Asuka I'm sorry for blaming you… I just… I don't know what to do…"

Asuka looked at her and felt uneasy as the woman broke down crying before her, she walked over and put her arm around Misato and led her towards one of the seats in the room.

"It's alright, I'll find the idiot even if I have to travel all around Japan."

Misato looked up at her and looked at her quizzically.

"You don't have to do all that…"

"No I do, because I'm sure as hell not getting stuck here with you being depressed and me having to work with Wondergirl, at least Shinji hasn't attacked me."

Misato wiped her eyes on her sleeve and looked at Asuka smiling slightly, Asuka however was still frowning.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this."

"It's alright don't get upset over it, like I said the idiot can handle himself."

"Asuka why do you keep calling him an idiot, from what you said the other day when you got back from the Over The Rainbow you were starting to agree with some of he said."

"That's not the reason, the reason I'm calling him an idiot is because of what he done."

She couldn't help herself but a slight grin crept onto Misato's face as looked at Asuka.

"You're concerned about him aren't you?"

Asuka immediately turned red and replied back fiercely.

"Don't be stupid Misato, I'm only helping you so I don't have to get randomly attacked by Agent Ayanami. Yes, I said I agreed with some of what he has said but that doesn't mean I'm going to start getting concerned about him because of something like this."

"He likes you, you know?"

Misato grinned as she watched Asuka growing even redder then before, despite her concern for Shinji it was providing her some relief teasing Asuka like this.

"Well so he should, after all to be able to work with someone like me… hold on a minute what do you mean he likes me?"

"He told me the night he was came to live with me after his apartment was burnt down, he said he was worried something might happen to you and that he was enjoying working with you. It was he who got the chopper to come and pick you up from the Over The Rainbow as well, he was with Rei in the ambulance but when he heard something had gone wrong he left and immediately had it fly out to help you."

"That doesn't mean anything, I'm sure any other Agent would have done the same for the person they worked with and what do you mean his flat was burnt down?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"No, he hasn't spoken to me since I told him about his father."

"On the night you left Tokyo 3, a car pulled up outside Shinji's apartment block and broke into his room. Agent Ayanami was able to rescue him and bring him to my flat but the people burnt the entire block down in the process."

Asuka thought for a moment and looked back to Shinji's desk and the documents on there. She glanced through the Shamshel documents looking for something, Misato shot her a confused glance when Asuka threw the documents down in frustration.

"They're gone."

"What are?"

"The documents of the liquid samples we took during the Shamshel case."

"What, how? Do you think Shinji took them?"

"I don't know I want to see Shinji's apartment block."

"Do you think he'll have returned there?"

"No, but I want to see if something has been there."

**Shinji's Apartment – 1800 hours**

"Agent Sohryu I don't think NERV are going to be too happy with you stealing that lab equipment."

"I'll pay for it later, besides I'm not stealing it, we're investigating the disappearance of an Agent."

Asuka shot Misato a cocky grin and stepped out of the car and looked at the building in front of her. Just as Misato said, it had been practically destroyed after those people burnt it down. She wondered just what they had used as the smell of the fire still hung heavily in the air, mixed in with the dampness from the pouring rain. Asuka made a personal note to get out of here as soon as possible. She ran into the alleyway where Misato said Shinji and Rei had been attacked by two of the men. She got down on her hands and knees, looking around the debris from the building, Misato followed her, wondering what the red headed girl was planning.

"Agent Sohryu, what are you looking for?"

Asuka withdrew the equipment she had brought with her and began collecting from what seemed to be a small puddle of orange liquid. Misato asked her again what she was doing.

"Agent Sohryu, what is that stuff?"

"I don't know, but it's been present at most of the cases me and Agent Ikari have worked on. It was present at the Sachiel case, the Shamshel case, and it was on the ship when I was with Gaghiel. I've ran so many tests on it but the results are always inconclusive, from what I can tell it's very close to human blood but there's something inside it that makes it different."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, I was recruited to NERV before I finished all my medical training."

"Shinji said you had a degree i…"

"I do but...it's a long story. Anyway I'll take this sample hopefully it'll give me the same results as the others."

"What happened to the other samples?"

"Stolen or went missing, on the Over The Rainbow there was an entire laboratory consisting of this stuff though. It was labeled as LCL in there, I took a sample but I gave it to Shinji when I surfaced on deck."

"Why?"

"I knew I was going to end up in hospital and didn't want to risk it being stolen and I knew I could trust him with it. Of course now he's gone missing so I can't run any tests on it."

"I see, but why didn't you trust the hospitals?"

"I hate hospitals, it was in one where my mo…"

Misato looked on as Asuka stopped herself mid sentence, if Misato didn't know any better she could have sworn a look of sorrow appeared on Asuka's face, but it soon turned to anger.

"It doesn't matter, I just don't like hospitals and after Shinji's father appearing so coincidently in the last one I thought it'd be best to let him take care of it."

"I see, so what do we do now?"

"We get this sample back to a safe location, my house. Besides that, I don't know, maybe Shinji will have retur…."

Asuka was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing, she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID on the screen and looked in shock when she saw who it was.

'_Shinji Ikari'_

She answered the phone and put it to her ear only to have the person hang up immediately. Just as Asuka was about to tell Misato what had happened the phone went again, only this time telling Asuka she had a text message, this too was from Shinji and only contained one word.

'_Home'_

**Unknown Facility – 1500 hours**

Kaji looked out across the car park from his spot under the entrance, he smiled when he saw the person stepping onto the tarmac and moving towards him. As he watched the man he threw his cigarette to the floor and stamped it out.

"So we finally meet again, Shinji Ikari."

Shinji looked at him and moved into the facility as well.

"Agent Kaji…"

"Please, just Kaji will do, it's been a while."

"That it has, what was the important thing you wanted to tell me about?"

"First of all there is something I want to know, why weren't you at Misato's last night or at work today?"

Shinji looked at him and then stared down at the floor, speaking quietly.

"There was something I needed to think about, have you been watching me?"

"I've been assigned to Tokyo 3 and I heard from people that you had barely been seen. Misato will be worried about you."

"I… It doesn't matter, there's nothing she can do, and anyway I need to sort this out on my own."

"That's where you're wrong Shinji, you need people you can trust and people who trust you."

Shinji looked up and began shouting.

"And who trusts me? Misato only acts the way she does because she was my guardian, Sohryu thinks I'm an idiot and I don't know anything about Ayanami. I was even last to know about my father being who he was."

"Shinji I didn't want you to find out that way, that's why I asked you to come out here. I wanted to apologize for you finding out the way you did from Asuka, she always was a little blunt."

"It's alright, if she didn't tell me like that no one would have, I just…why did he have to be there, why didn't he say anything to me?"

"I don't know Shinji, but I do know something that might help you find out."

"Is this the real reason you called me out here?"

"Yes, there's a case you might be interested in."

"So that's it huh? What's the case?"

"Fifteen years ago two people, twins to be precise, went missing from their home on the outskirts of Tokyo. Their parents moved out of Tokyo on the day of the impact incident."

"I see, what about it?"

"Well yesterday the twin girls returned to their home, their parent's new home. Not a scratch on them or anything and no memory of what had happened to them."

"Unusual, but why would I be interested in it?"

"Well a few reasons, on the day of the incident their parents reported seeing strange lights in the sky, second and probably the strangest the twins have not aged a day since the day they were abducted. They vanished at the age of nineteen and they both returned having not aged a day since then."

"That's…"

"Impossible? Highly improbable? I know, but it's happened."

"Ok, so what's the third reason?"

"Their parents knew your father."

_2nd January 2001_

**Medical Facility – Unknown Time**

When Misato came too she was staring straight into two bright lights, she turned her head and found herself inside a hospital room. She attempted to lift herself up off of the bed but immediately went back down due to the immense pain around her back and stomach. As she propped herself into a sitting position a nurse entered the room and shot her a look of shock.

"You're finally awake! We were afraid you'd never wake up."

Misato looked at her and spoke softly.

"Where… where am I?"

"It's alright, you're safe now."

"What happened to me, how did I get here?"

"There was an incident in Tokyo, we found you on the outskirts and brought you to this medical facility."

Misato felt pain at the back of her head as all the memories from that night ran through her mind at once, she felt herself freeze up as the nurse continued speaking.

"More will be explained later, it'd be best for you to just rest for now."

She was met with silence, the nurse made her way over to Misato and took a needle from the tray.

"You've been asleep for near enough three days now Miss Katsuragi, when you were recovered you were badly injured. This injection should help relieve some of the pain, the doctor will be in later to explain more."

Misato was still sat in silence as the nurse began to inject her with something. She looked down at the needle, still unable to speak, she could smell the stench of the liquid being injected into her.

'_It smells… like blood'_

A slight tingling sensation was felt in her arm and it quickly raced around her body, she felt her eyelids growing heavy as she sank into sleep once again.

**Asuka's Residence – 1830 hours**

Asuka pulled her car into the driveway and looked across, just as she expected, Shinji was standing there on the doorstep looking at her. She got out the car and stormed over to him with a furious expression on her face.

"Agent Sohryu I…"

He was unable to get his sentence out before Asuka slapped him across the face, he brought his hand up to his face, feeling where she slapped him and looked down away from her.

"I'm sorry for what happened…"

She slapped him again only this time she spoke afterwards.

"The first one was for Misato, the second one was for me. Now you may speak."

Asuka looked him directly in the eyes, noticing slight tears forming and a hint of sadness across his face. He reached his hand out towards her but he immediately brought it back and spoke, his voice breaking up.

"Agent Sohryu… Asuka… I'm sorry I can't say anything more than that."

"Is that why you're here, to apologize?"

"No… well yes I want to explain what happened but I…"

"Explain inside, despite what's happened I don't want you to die of pneumonia out here."

"Thank you."

Asuka frowned and unlocked the door and they both stepped inside into the house, she took her jacket off and hung it up. She stopped Shinji before he got any further into the entranceway.

"Give me your jacket, shirt and trousers."

"What, why?"

"They're soaked through, idiot."

"But what will I wear then?"

"Well I've got a dress upstairs that'll suit you if you'd like that…."

"I don't think so, I'm fine."

"See this bag here, they've got a change of clothes for you, Misato thought this might happen and had us stop off and pick them up from a store. What did you think I'd go out looking for you and stop to do some shopping for myself along the way?"

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes, Misato was worried about you, I personally didn't care. Now hurry up and get changed."

"Here?"

"No, on the moon, of course here. I'm not letting you get all that water in my house."

"But… but...oh alright then."

"Good, I'll go make you a coffee and then you can tell me why you decided to be an idiot."

Shinji began to unbutton his shirt as Asuka turned towards the kitchen, a slight grin on her face. She paused when he heard him calling her.

"Asuka… thank you."

"What for?"

"For… never mind."

Shinji quickly changed out of his clothes and put on the new set Misato had gotten him, a few moments later he went into the kitchen to find Asuka pouring two cups of coffee and putting them on the side. She turned and looked at the clothes she had picked out for him, of course she wasn't going to tell him that. It was nothing too grand but it made a change from the same black trousers and white shirt he always wore. She pointed him towards the main room and she took a seat, she watched Shinji as he nervously looked around.

"You can sit down you know, the furniture isn't going to eat you."

He smiled and took a seat, as soon as he did so Asuka began speaking.

"So where did you run off to?"

"I just had some things I needed to think about, it was about my father."

Asuka looked down embarrassed slightly.

"Oh."

"Thanks for telling me, if you hadn't I don't think I would have gotten to know."

"Well that's what I'm there for, you're the one who looks for the outlandish explanations and I'm the one who puts it bluntly."

He laughed and took a drink from his coffee as she continued.

"So why did you come here, of all the places I didn't expect you to end up here?"

"I can't face Misato yet, I need a bit more time and besides I wanted to return something to you."

"What do you mean?"

"The vial you gave me, it's in my jacket pocket still, I thought you might want it back to analyze or something."

"Oh right."

"I also met up with Kaji today, he contacted me. He gave me information on a new case, he also said it might help me find out more about my father."

Asuka glanced at him and sighed.

"Is that really why you're here?"

Shinji sat back in the chair looking dejected, what he had said didn't quite come out how he had hoped it to.

"No, I… sorry."

"Three."

"What?"

"That's three times you've apologized to me in the space of ten minutes."

"Sorry…"

"You did that on purpose."

"I know."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to find out about him?"

"He abandoned me with my uncle two years after my mother vanished, I want to find out why, I want to find out why he was there in that place and why he couldn't even say anything to me. I want to tell him… never mind."

"Do you hate him?"

Shinji looked around the room and nodded slightly, Asuka moved over to his seat and nervously put an arm around him. She smiled at him and changed the subject.

"Well, seeing as you've got a new case, and I owe you one for upsetting you I guess this means I'll have to go back to work."

"You don't have to rush back and besides, you didn't upset me I just…."

Asuka ginned and quickly interrupted him off.

"I know, but I want to get back to work, my talents go to waste sitting around at home besides, I can't imagine you'd get anywhere without me."

Shinji smiled and turned slightly red, he looked away, hoping Asuka wouldn't notice and spoke quietly.

"Thanks."


	10. The Morning After

_17th May 2015_

**Asuka's Residence – 0930 hours**

An unfamiliar ceiling, that was the first thing Shinji thought of when he slowly opened his eyes. Blinking twice, he looked straight up, noticing something else that was strange about this ceiling, it appeared to be spinning, or was it him who was spinning? He brought his hand up towards his head and rubbed it slightly as a sharp pain ran across it.

'_Oh god, I feel terrible'_

He closed his eyes as the rest of the side effects began to hit him, his head began to pound slightly more and his mouth was incredibly dry. Slowly he turned his head only to feel his stomach churning, he resisted the urge to throw up all other the carpet and sat up slowly groaning slightly.

'_This isn't good, what the hell happened?'_

He jumped as there was a loud thud from upstairs, this only served to make his headache worse. Shinji slowly began to rub the sides of his head and breathed slowly, trying to ease his stomach. There was another thud followed by a loud shout of pain, once again Shinji jumped at the sound. He looked around the living room he was in, trying to remember what happened and finally realizing where he was.

'_Oh yeah… I'm at Asuka's, but what happened?'_

There were more noises as he heard someone making their way down the stairs, albeit slowly. He groggily turned his head towards the door as it opened slowly, he watched as Asuka slowly made her way into the living room wearing pajamas and a dressing gown, she too looked incredibly pale and was holding her head. Shinji tried to open his mouth to speak but thought better of it as a wave of nausea swept over him again. Instead he merely nodded towards her. She motioned back at him and made her way over to one of the other seats in the living room, she threw herself down on it, moaning slightly.

"Never again… I don't care what anyone say's, never ever again."

Shinji swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak.

"What happened last night?"

Asuka gave a muffled reply from where she was lying.

"You mean you don't remember? Some idiot here had the great idea to start drinking last night."

Shinji leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes, trying to remember. He knew he had met Kaji then went to Asuka's where she slapped him twice for what he done. Then he was invited into her house they talked for a bit and then…

He came to a realization and replied, his voice slightly rose, which didn't help his head one bit.

"It was your idea to start drinking, you thought it'd make me feel better."

"Yes I know, please don't remind me… and stop shouting, my head feels like it's been ran over."

"Sorry."

Shinji lay back down and threw the cover over his head, shutting his eyes as the room fell into silence. The memories of last night coming back to him, he remembers the first drink and then the second and then maybe one more, everything after that was a blur. Shinji was never much of a drinker.

"Oh shit."

Shinji spoke out from beneath the covers.

"What?"

"It's half nine, we're late. Misato is going to kill us."

Shinji threw the covers off of him and opened his eyes.

"Crap…"

Shinji looked over at where Asuka was, she was still lying face down on the sofa. He reached round, his head still swimming, and quickly pulled on the shirt and trousers he had been given. His stomach churned as he stood up, causing him to sit back down for a second.

"There's no time for breakfast, we can get something at lunch if you want, and I'll pay."

Thinking about food was something Shinji immediately regretted, not only because of the effect it had on his body but also because of the look Asuka gave him.

"If you mention food again I'll kill you."

"Sorry."

"Shut up, let's just go."

She stood up and steadily made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of water. Shinji followed her into the kitchen and did the same, the water hit his mouth easing some of the dryness but not helping his stomach much. Asuka stood over the sink, her head bowed slightly as she sipped from the glass, resisting the urge to immediately throw up whenever she took a drink. She threw the rest of the contents into the sink and turned to Shinji.

"Come on, let's go."

Shinji nodded as they made their way out of house, Asuka stopped to get her car keys and put her shoes on. They stepped out of the house and walked over to the car, however Shinji halted Asuka before they got in.

"Asuka, should you really be going to work like that?"

She looked down noticing she still had on her pajamas and dressing gown, looking up she glared a hole through Shinji.

"You idiot, why didn't you tell me before I stepped outside the house?"

"Sorry."

"I should make you walk for this, give me five minutes."

She threw the car keys at Shinji and stormed back into the house, slamming the door behind her. Shinji laughed quietly to himself as he opened the car door and stepped inside, ready for what was going to be a very long day.

**NERV Offices – 1000 hours  
**Misato wandered into the office, a furious look on her face, she jumped when she saw Rei sitting at one of the desks in the room, typing something into the computer. She wandered over to Rei's desk and looked at the Blue Haired girl curiously. Rei turned and looked up, her cold red eyes staring directly at her.

"Agent Katsuragi, is there something you wanted?"

"Well actually yes, I was just wondering where the hell agents Sohryu and Ikari were today."

"I have not seen them."

They both turned just as the door to the office opened again, Misato glared as both Shinji and Asuka made their way into the room looking pale and moving slowly. A wave of anger flashed through her as she realized just what was wrong with them and waited until they had both sat down to speak, her voice serious.

"Well I'm glad you have both finally shown up, where have you been?"

Shinji looked up and spoke quietly.

"Sorry, we were held up by something."

"I can see that, what is wrong with you both, as if I can't already guess?"

Asuka switched on her computer screen and recoiled back from the sudden flash of light on it. She rubbed her eyes and muttered.

"There's nothing wrong with us, we're just tired."

Rei looked on at the two pilots as they spoke to her, knowing exactly what was wrong with her fellow agent's. It was a concept she found hard to understand, the idea of drinking so much alcohol it made you ill the next day, if it made people feel unpleasant then why would they do it? She turned back to her screen as Misato continued berating the two Agents.

"Tired, yes you both look it. Dry throat, spinning ceilings and a bad headache is often signs of tiredness. Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, what you do in your own time is up to you but you're both NERV Agents, you have an example to set. If you are going to do something like this next time, don't even bother coming in."

They both spoke from behind their desks in unison.

"Yes Misato."

Misato frowned and looked at them both as they sat with their heads on their desk. A wicked smile crept across her face as she found out just the way to punish them, first some light teasing then the final blow.

'_There's nothing I can do to punish them, I can't take this to the director but I can still have some fun.'_

"So what were you two celebrating in order to get so drunk last night, were you really that happy about Shinji returning safely?"

Asuka lifted her head up off the desk and stared over at Misato, a slight hint of redness burning onto her face.

"No, we just decided to have a drink, nothing more."

She put her head down again as the wicked smile turned into a fully fledged grin.

"So you're sure you didn't do anything you'd both regret, well maybe you'd had enjoyed it. You know some people don't have control of themselves when they're drunk, who knows what you both done."

Now it was Shinji's turn to quickly raise his head and get embarrassed.

"Misato we… we did n-nothing like that, if you must know I slept on the sofa downstairs and Agent Sohryu slept upstairs."

"Oh, so you did stay at hers then?"

He nodded slightly.

"Y-Yes…"

"Excellent."

Asuka quickly shouted back...

"Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all, now who's hungry, I could take you all out for some breakfast."

Asuka and Shinji groaned and put their heads down on the desk, Shinji muttering slightly.

"Please don't mention food."

"Oh now come on, I sure could go for something fried right about now, something like…"

Asuka groaned.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Don't be like that, maybe something fried and greasy."

Shinji spoke again.

"No really Misato, stop, I really am about to be sick."

"You'll feel better after this, I know a place that does the greasiest bacon sandwiches, just what you need after…"

"Oh God."

Both Shinji and Asuka leapt up from their desks and ran out of the room their hands clamped over their mouths. Misato couldn't help but laugh at their suffering as she made her way over to Rei again.

'_Can't hold their alcohol, oh well.'_

Rei turned and looked at Misato again, trying to figure out why Misato found the events that had transpired so funny.

"Agent Katsuragi, why do you find their situation so amusing?"

"Oh that's easy, Asuka and Shinji brought this on themselves. Maybe it's a bit cruel but how else am I going to punish them?"

"Can you not submit a report to the Director or suspend them?"

"I could but coming in with a hangover isn't really bad enough for that sort of thing, besides I need my best agents here and not at home. No, they inflicted it on themselves and besides, they'll be better once they've got it out of their system."

"I see."

Rei turned back to her computer just as Shinji and Asuka reentered the room, holding their stomachs still. She felt her lips curl upwards into a smile as she caught a glimpse of their faces. Shinji had now broken into a sweat and was breathing deeply, he reentered the room, glaring daggers into Misato. Asuka soon followed him, also glaring at Misato, her hair sticking to her face. Rei smiled and turned back to the computer just as she saw Asuka turn to look at her. Before Asuka was able to say anything Misato quickly cut her off.

"Ok, well I've got paperwork to do, so I'll leave you to work, although I want to speak to you Shinji."

Shinji looked up from his desk at Misato, the grin on her face had gone and had been replaced with a concerned look. He looked downwards shamefully as he caught Asuka looking at him as well. The memories of the previous day came back to him as he remembered how Asuka reacted when she got back to her home and how she told him Misato was concerned.

"I understand."

**  
Directors Office – 1100 hours**

Kaji stepped forward towards the lone desk in the low lit room, below him the carpet was adorned with a white symbol he didn't recognize. A smile spread across his face as he saw the director looking on at him, his hands folded neatly in front of his face, the lone ceiling light reflecting in the man's glasses.

"I love what you've done with the place, Ikari."

He produced a vial of orange liquid from his pocket and held it up to the light, studying it carefully. The liquid inside gave off a faint glow, Kaji wasn't sure if it was the liquid or the lighting in the room.

"You know if the committee knew I took this and gave it to you they'd not only kill me, they'd kill you and the two agents you've injected with the Serum."

"The committee has other concerns than finding one lost vial, they have the rest of the angels to track and of course the human instrumentality project. Keel and the rest won't miss it."

"That's true, but this vial doesn't contain the same serum that was in the rest of the vials in that laboratory, this one contains something slightly more special.

Gendo smiled and picked the vial up, examining it through the light, he turned back to see Agent Kaji looking at him, expecting some sort of explanation.

"Correct, this is not the Evangelion Serum that we have used on the two Agents, this is one of the main ingredients for the serum of course, heavily unmodified. This vial contains DNA of SEELE's first specimen, the DNA of Adam."

"Very impressive, now I wonder why you would need such a thing."

"My plans are none of your concern, you were just to collect this from the ship and deliver it to me as agreed. You will find your payment in your office."

"Yes sir."

Kaji nodded and began to exit the office, he was just about to reach the door when Gendo stopped him.

"And Agent Kaji, it would be wise for you not to tell my son or Agent Sohryu anymore about me, that includes my role at this organization, am I understood?"

Kaji grinned as he walked out the door.

"I understand."

Kaji exited the room, closing the door behind him only to come face to face with Misato, acting quickly he grabbed hold of her and spun her round. Looking into her eyes and grinning at her.

"Fancy us meeting like this."

Misato shot him a look of disgust and quickly shoved him away.

"Oh god it's you, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Well I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd nip in and see how you were."

"Well I'm fine, and busy, so leave me alone."

"Oh now don't be like that, we have a lot of catching up to do, maybe you'd like to see my office."

"Pervert… wait a minute, your office, you work here!?"

"Just got transferred in today, we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

"Not if I can help it."

"You're still as cute as ever you know."

"And you're still as pathetic and immature as ever."

Misato turned towards the elevator, Kaji grinned and followed her inside, she sighed and pressed the button to go down to the basement level as he simply stood there grinning.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to my office."

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"Do you want me to answer that question?"

Misato was about to halt the elevator and storm out just to get away from the man when she remembered what had happened a few days ago. Their eyes met as she spoke.

"How did you know about Shinji's father?"

"Hmm?"

"Gendo Rokubungi… how did you know that was Shinji's father?"

Kaji frowned, the smile from his face had gone as he tried to work out how to answer Misato. He couldn't tell her the truth, she wasn't ready for it, but if he couldn't lie to her, knowing what she had been through in the past, she had a right to know parts of it.

"It comes from when I was in Germany, the girl I looked after, Asuka Langley Sohryu, her mother was friends with Yui Ikari. I later found out she was married to someone called Gendo Ikari, or as he used to be called, Rokubungi."

It wasn't the most convincing of explanations, but in his mind it would do for now, he glanced over at Misato as the elevator came to a halt. He could immediately tell what she was thinking, it had been ten years since they had last seen each other but it felt like it was only yesterday. Their eyes met again as she nodded her head slightly, acknowledging the explanation "

**Shinji/Asuka's Office – 1115 hours**

Shinji turned his head away from the screen down towards the documents on his desk, they had still been unopened since he had received them from Kaji the previous day. He looked around the room realizing he was the only person in there, Asuka was talking to Misato in her office about making an early return to active duty since the Over The Rainbow incident, and as for Ayanami, well even when she was there it was as if she wasn't.

A strange thought possessed him as he looked over at Ayanami's desk, his eyes scanning the bare surface. He slowly stood up and made his way over towards the desk and began looking around. Her workstation was still on but was locked, instead he slowly opened up one of the drawers. He wasn't sure why he had this urge to check through her stuff but nonetheless there he was. Maybe it was a trust issue, until the Ramiel incident the only time he had seen her was when she was present when he was being attacked by Sachiel and again when he fell ill a few weeks later. Asuka on the other hand, claimed to have been attacked by her.

There was something else there that drove him to look, it was when he thought back to their first proper meeting when, Shinji mentioned the name Gendo Rokubungi, his fathers name, he saw something flash in Ayanami's eyes and just now he had figured out what it was, recognition. She had recognized the name, she knew who he was. He rummaged through the drawer, hoping that she wouldn't return while he was searching. That was when he found it, a small piece of card in the drawer with a photo of a man and what Shinji assumed was a younger Rei Ayanami on it.

'_That's him, she does know him but how? Why would my father be in a picture with Agent Ayanami?'_

"What are you doing?"

He felt a sense of dread as he heard the words being spoken, this was just what he didn't want to happen. Shinji clutched hold of the photo and looked up slowly only, to be met with the red eyes of Agent Ayanami, he swallowed hard as he stumbled backwards and away from the desk. She looked down at the photo he was clutching and immediately went to grab it, this was the first time Shinji had noticed the girl showing emotion, anger flashed across her face as she tried to grab the photo out of his hand.

"Agent Ayanami calm down, I can explain."

The words did nothing to stop the girl as she still continued to try and grab the photo away from him. For some reason Shinji's mind wouldn't allow him to let go as he struggled to hold on, wanting to try to get some answers from her.

"Wait, what do you know about him?"

Still no effect as she pulled the photo away from him and held onto it tightly, placing it back onto her desk.

"Ayanami…do you know him?"

Silence befell them both as he awaited her response, his heart racing and his mind focused on one thing. After what seemed like an eternity the answer came, Rei spoke much more softly then she had before, it was almost sorrowful.

"Yes."

"How and why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I was ordered not to tell you?"

"By who?"

"I cannot say."

"Why? Has he told you not to tell me?"

"I cannot say."

Shinji sat back down behind his desk and buried his head in his hands, trying to sort out his thoughts. It was too much for him to take, not only had he found out his father was alive and who his father was, but now that his father was somehow involved in his work as well. He looked over at Rei uncomfortably and noticed her looking down at the picture clutched in her hand. She quickly stood up and made her way towards the office door, not even looking at Shinji on the way out.

"Excuse me, I have to go."

Shinji could do nothing but just look blankly at where she had just been, he rested his head on his hand, deep in thought.

'_My father… Ayanami… what's their connection?'_

**Twins Residence – 1215 hours**

"Agent Ikari, what are we doing here?"

"Remember that case I told you about yesterday?"

"Yes, the one you said Kaji gave you."

"Well it wasn't so much a case..."

She pulled the car up to the side of the road and glared at him.

"What do you mean it wasn't so much a case?"

"Well it's not official, this hasn't been cleared with Misato."

"So we're not meant to be here, is that what you're saying?"

Shinji grinned slightly and nodded.

"Well we're NERV Agents so we do have the authority to go wherever we want, and besides, we could find something useful. If you don't want to be here just drop me off and I'll walk from here you don't have to get in trouble on account of me. I'm here because Kaji said the people involved knew my father."

Asuka glanced at the folder on the dashboard and then ahead on the road, she could just tell him to get out of the car now and then she could drive back to NERV and not risk her career but she did promise she'd help him out with this.

"Okay, I'll come with you. I did say I owe you one and I'd help you, I guess I don't have a choice."

"Yes you do, you have a future at NERV, you do…"

"I'm not finished, I'll help you with this but promise me you won't turn this into a crusade to find out everything you can about your father. If he's gone to all this trouble to not be found, maybe there's a good reason for it. Maybe some things from your past are better left buried."

He stared at the folder in his hand and contemplated his options.

"Maybe you're right…."

"I usually am."

"Okay, we'll check this out and if I don't find anything then I'll give up."

She sighed and hit her hand off the steering wheel.

"You're an idiot, I didn't mean just give up I meant just don't turn this into a personal crusade."

"I think I understand, I'll make this up to you though."

"Lunch..."

"Huh?"

"You really are dense today, I thought you had gotten rid of your hangover. Buy me lunch."

"What now?"

"No not now, where are you going to get it from here, the tree on that person's front lawn? After we look at this place."

"Ok, sure."

She pulled the car away from the curb and began driving towards their destination again, after a short time driving through the streets they eventually came to the street the house was on. However, the scene that greeted them was not the one that Shinji wanted. They pulled up to where the house would be only to find the house burnt down and abandoned. He quickly got out of the car and moved towards the house, Asuka doing the same. Shinji quickly made his way up to the doorway and slammed his fist off the frame in frustration.

"I don't believe it."

Asuka moved towards him, nervously glancing around.

"What the hell happened here?"

There was no chance for a reply as both of them quickly caught sight of a man in a suit turning round the corner of the house. The man quickly pulled out a gun and fired two shots in the direction of the agents. Without thinking Shinji pushed Asuka out of the way and braced himself for the impact of the bullets. After a moment of waiting nothing happened, he looked up and noticed the man still standing there, what really struck him as strange was the bullets the man had fired were now hovering directly in front of Shinji, blocked by some sort of glowing field.

Asuka noticed this and quickly got to her feet, pulling out her own pistol, she fired two shots at the man, one bullet hitting him in the head, the other in the stomach. She turned to see the two bullets fired at Shinji falling to the ground and Shinji frozen in shock.

"Agent Ikari, come on."

They both made their way over to the body of the man Asuka had shot and looked down at him. Asuka recoiled as she saw both the wounds on the man begin to heal up and his eyes flicker open again. The man quickly grabbed hold of Asuka and threw her to the ground as he made his way up. Shinji went to withdraw his own gun but was stopped as the man grabbed his wrist and delivered a quick blow to his gut. Both of the agents gave chase and the man quickly dashed into the nearby trees, both agents fired off shots at the man, only for them to have no effect.

They kept running only for the forest to progressively get darker, suddenly a strange sensation went through Shinji's body. He stopped where he was only to notice Asuka was no longer behind him.

"Agent Sohyu?"

He called out only to receive no reply, he began to backtrack, only to find he no longer recognized the forest he was in.

'_What just happened to me?'_

From above he heard a loud rumbling noise, the ground began to shake as he knelt down, looking for the source of the noise. Eventually it appeared, three bright lights making their way slowly over the trees accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. The lights were like those of a search light, they scanned the forest before fixing themselves on Shinji's body. He shielded his eyes and looked up and saw what seemed to be a hatch opening.

'_Is this… is this really happening?'_

He began to feel a strange sensation in his body as the same field he saw deflect the bullets began to form around him. In the distance the silhouette of a person came into view, they moved towards him. As they did so he immediately recognized the person.

"Ayanami?"

"You must come with me Ikari, you are not ready for this yet."

"What do you mean?"

She grabbed hold of his hand and began to lead him away from the light, as she touched him everything went dead. The lights vanished, the rumbling ceased and the sun began to pour back into the forest again. He looked around confused, his mind trying to comprehend what had just happened. He looked around trying to find any sign of what was just hovering over him only to find himself alone in the clearing with Agent Ayanami looking at him.

"What…what just happened?"

He was met with silence from Ayanami, he repeated the question only to be met with silence and Ayanami's red eyes burrowing into him.

"How…how did you know we were here?"

This time Ayanami did speak.

"Agent Katsuragi noticed you and Sohryu leaving, she sent me to follow you."

"You…you've been following us?"

"Yes."

Shinji knelt down and looked around, noticing Asuka wasn't there.

"Where is Agent Sohryu?"

"She will be here in a minute, we have been looking for you for over an hour."

Shinji stared at her in disbelief, even for him someone who did believe in the paranormal, extraterrestrial and other strange phenomena that was too hard to believe. It had felt like he had been there for just under ten minutes, it was impossible for him to have been there for an hour. He glanced at his watch, it had stopped exactly at the time he and Asuka had arrived at the burnt down house. Lost for something to say, he asked Ayanami the only other question he had on his mind.

"What did you mean when you said I wasn't ready for this?"

"I never said that."

"No you did, just then, in the light, you found me and said it?"

"Perhaps you are still unwell, I do not remember any of what you have just said."

Shinji stood up, unsure of what to think, Ayanami sounded genuine enough but he had been there, he had witnessed her coming towards him and speaking those words. It was Ayanami, he was sure of it, the person looked exactly like her, he tried to remember exactly what the person looked like. The image of her quickly flashed into his mind.

'_No, it was her, it had to have been, she looked exactly like Ayanami, she had the same body, the same features, everything.'_

"Agent Ikari, are you sure you're alright?"

He looked around, it was only him and Ayanami at this moment, he remembered back to what had happened a few hours previous in the office and glanced at Ayanami sheepishly. She looked at him with the same icy expression she always wore, there was no trace of the emotion he had seen from her earlier that day.

"I'm alright, we'd better get Agent Sohryu and get out of here."

"Agreed."

Both the agents quickly spun round as there was a rustling behind them. Shinji grabbed his pistol and aimed it towards the sound. He held his breath as Asuka suddenly appeared, recoiling slightly when she saw Shinji's gun pointed at her.

"Not quite the greeting I think I deserve."

He lowered the gun, embarrassed.

"Sorry I d…"

"Doesn't matter, you two need to take a look at something."

"What is it?"

She turned back towards where she had just come from as Shinji and Rei followed her back through the trees. Eventually they came towards a small clearing. She pointed towards the center and Shinji noticed what she was pointing at. It was a body, from what Shinji could tell it was a male adult, beyond that however, nothing. He knelt down beside it, looking at it more closely.

"I've never seen anything like this, it's been heavily burnt but it's in some sort of pattern. Who could have done this?"

Asuka shook her head and lowered her voice.

"I don't know, but take a look at the logo on his shirt."

Rei knelt down as well and moved the persons jacket revealing the shirt the man was wearing, all three agents recognized it. An image consisting of a downwards pointing triangle with seven eye's within it.

A/N: Wow chapter 10 already, to be honest I'm not too happy with some parts of this one, it moves the story along but there's something about it I cannot pin point that doesn't work so well. Maybe I'm just being silly, but there's something there I'm not too sure about, I might come back to this one later and try to refine it again. Anyway, hopefully it works for everyone. Thanks for reading so far.


	11. Dance Like You Want To Win!

**NERV Offices – 1345 hours**

Misato glanced nervously at the clock on her desk, it had been nearly two hours since she had told Rei to follow Shinji and Asuka and bring them back to NERV, yet there had been no contact since that time. She wondered just where Shinji and Asuka were headed and why they left so suddenly. She glanced at the clock again, barely a minute had gone by since she last checked. The excitement of being sent to the same branch of NERV as Shinji was quickly wearing off. At first she was happy she was going to be his immediate superior, after the past few days she just wasn't so sure anymore.

It was almost as if he had reverted back to how he was when they first met, he was keeping his distance from her, not telling her anything and doing his best to disobey her, just like he had when he was fourteen before the hospital incident.

'_Is it because we haven't had contact in so long, or is that just how Shinji will always be?'_

Her thoughts wandered over to Shinji's recent discovery about his father and how his father was there in that hospital with them. It didn't make any sense that after more than fifteen years of non-contact his father suddenly reappeared like that, coupled in with the cases both he and Asuka had been sent on recently. She just couldn't see the connection anywhere, unless Shinji was once again withholding information.

What surprised her most was Asuka's role in this, she didn't seem to be having any problem with going along with Shinji despite her skepticism and the constant disagreements. Compared to what she had read about Agent Sohryu, it seemed out of character, the Agent Sohryu she had heard about was a brilliant Agent determined to rise through the ranks, there was even talk once that Asuka was headed for deputy director in the far future.

'_Is she just trying to find a new way to prove herself? Try to prove something that couldn't be proved and make a name for herself that way?'_

Finally there was Agent Ayanami, the mysterious blue haired Agent, no one she had spoke to knew anything about her. A few people mentioned how she was seen in a NERV Office in one area of Japan for one week and then moved to another the next week. No one knew anything about her or who she was. Her records were completely blank aside from the bare essentials and her assignment to her division was incredibly out of the blue as well.

'_Rei Ayanami, a twenty eight year old Agent who may as well not exist, she appears twice, one time attacking one of my Agents and then she gets assigned to my division. Just who is she?'_

Before she got a chance to question anything any further there was a knock at her door, she quickly leapt up and dashed over to the door. She opened it hoping it might be the three agents but gave a disappointed sigh when she realized who it was.

"Oh it's you... What do you want?"

Kaji grinned at her and stepped forward only to find Misato blocking him from entering the office.

"I'll ask you again, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to see how you were, I noticed your Agents are all out and thought you might be lonely down here on your own. These basement offices aren't exactly full of life from what I've heard."

"I was fed up of the constant parties on the tenth floor, you have five minutes."

He entered the office, Misato closing the door behind him. She made her way back to her desk and watched Kaji as he pulled up a chair next to her. Before he was able to get a word out however Misato was able to get out a question that had been bugging her since the morning.

"Why were you in the director's office earlier today?"

"Oh no reason, he just wanted to talk to me about transferring here."

"Aren't you the lucky one, I didn't even get as much as a note."

"Jealous?"

She glared at him and quickly snapped back.

"Of you, you must be joking. What do you really want?"

"Well actually I was telling the truth but I did want to apologize for what happened on the ship, I shouldn't have told Asuka about Shinji's father."

"You're right, you shouldn't."

"But it was only right he found out."

"Was it? If he hadn't found out maybe now I'd have my three agents back here doing something useful and not going around Tokyo 3 chasing after some ridiculous case, that once again you gave them."

"I don't know what you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, the case on those twins you gave Shinji. He's followed it up and pulled Asuka into it, I had Rei following them."

Kaji glanced at her, the smile on his face had long since gone, instead it had been replaced with a serious expression.

"Misato, Shinji isn't fourteen anymore, he can handle himself, as can Agent Sohryu and Ayanami. Shinji's job within this department is to investigate the unexplained, what I gave him was something he would be interested in, even if he hadn't found out about his father."

She raised her voice at him, startling him in the process.

"I know he isn't fourteen anymore but that's besides the point… he…. I… forget it."

Misato quickly fought back the tears forming in her eyes and looked out across her office.

"I just wanted to help him, but he won't tell me anything, it's like he's avoiding me."

"Look, I wasn't there to see what he was like most of the time, all I know is what you've told me, but going by that that's just what he's like. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, besides which even if he doesn't Sohryu and Ayanami will be able to sort him out."

"Maybe you're right, it's just that I can't help but think something's happening and I'm just not being told anything, I mean look at Agent Ayanami. The first contact we had with her was when Shinji was out on a case involving a man named Sachiel, the second time she attacked Agent Sohryu. She actually attacked an agent and then she suddenly gets assigned to work with them, doesn't that seem a little bit strange to you?"

"NERV does operate in strange ways sometimes and gets its Agents to do peculiar things to bring down certain people. Ayanami was probably just one of these Agents, don't delve into it, you'll only be wasting your time."

"Possibly, maybe I'm worrying too much."

**Forest – 1400 hours**

"Stupid phone, what are we going to do now. We can't just sit around here with whoever this guy is for company, waiting for our phones to come back on and we can't leave because paranoid Shinji there thinks we won't be able to find the body again if we do leave."

Asuka glared over at Rei and then towards Shinji, at this moment in time hating them both very much, she had started the day off well. Well that was a lie, she had started the day off in one of the worst ways possible, then she had decided to help Shinji with this and now she couldn't help but think she had made a huge mistake, she was cold, wet from the rain that had just started and her headache from earlier that day was starting to return.

'_This is stupid, I could be back at the office now, sure it'd be boring but I'd be warm instead of bored, cold and in the company of Shinji, Wondergirl and this dead guy'_

"Logically, one of us should make our way out and go to get help."

"Well there you go it's settled, I'll go back to NERV and get Misato and transport for the body."

Shinji quickly spoke out forcefully enough to startle Asuka.

"No."

"What do you mean no, do you have any better options?"

"If you go you might not be able to find us when you come back."

"I can look after myself you know, look it's the only option we have."

"We'll stay here for another hour then, and after that we'll see about sending one of us out."

This time Shinji wasn't as forceful when he spoke, instead he was speaking much more quietly and softly. Asuka knew immediately that all he had just said about them not being able to find their way back was a lie. There was something else on his mind that he wasn't letting on, something he didn't want to tell them or her. She watched him as he made his way over to the edge of the clearing and sat with his back against one of the trees. She shouted back at him angrily.

"Fine, have it your way, but we're wasting our time."

It was perhaps a bit harsh on her part and she almost regretted saying the words but quickly bit back an apology. If he wasn't going to tell her anything, in her mind why should she apologize for one harsh comment? Shinji merely turned his head up towards the sky and looked around absent mindedly, completely ignoring Asuka's comment. Asuka sighed angrily and turned towards Rei, the blue haired agent seemingly taking no notice of the argument or simply not caring.

"So what is your story anyway?"

"I do not understand."

"Well why were you so suddenly assigned to work with us?"

"I don't know, I am just carrying out my orders."

Shinji raised his head towards the two women, his mind still trying to sort out what had just happened to him.

'_Have I found what I was looking for?'_

He cast the thought away quickly, not wanting to believe it, despite the fact that his whole purpose within NERV was prove to himself and to others that extraterrestrial life existed. The fact that he could have just came into contact with it was too farfetched.

'_The light…the bright light pulling me towards it, was that them? Were they trying to get to me, do they know who I am? It had to have been them but even if it was, no one would believe me. Agent Sohryu…she'd never believe me and Agent Ayanami…she was there coming towards me, she saw it but won't acknowledge it…is she with them? No, she couldn't be, it's impossible.'_

He looked over again, noticing Asuka had now stood up and was now speaking more forcefully at Rei.

"I suppose it was your orders to attack me as well."

"My orders are top secret, I cannot tell yo…"

"How convenient…if your orders were to kill me would you have done that?"

"If I was ordered to…"

Asuka was about to bring her hand back to slap Rei when she felt someone grabbing hold of her wrist. She turned to find Shinji glaring at her angrily, it was almost scary, she had never seen him truly angry. He let go of her wrist and shouted.

"Agent Sohryu stop it, what's gotten into you?"

She glared back at him not saying anything, her face showing pure rage at Shinji shouting at her, inside she was fighting back tears and the urge to slap him as well. Asuka quickly pushed her way past him out of the clearing, taking her phone out as she reached the edge. Shinji stood there watching her moving out of sight, he was about to call over to her or even go over to see if she was alright but something stopped him. Instead he sank to his knees and turned to Rei.

"Sorry…"

"What for?"

"For what just happened, not exactly the best introduction to how we work."

"Is this what it is usually like?"

"No, usually it's alright. I mean she's usually making jokes at my expense but nothing like that has ever happened before."

"I see."

"Although you and her didn't really have the best first meeting, you know with the whole you attacking her thing."

He smiled trying to make a joke out of it, Reis expression remained fixed.

"I was only doing what I had been told to do, would you and her not have done the same?"

"Maybe, it depends on what we would have been told I guess. I'm not the best person to ask about that, I don't really have the best track record with NERV."

"I did not know that, if this is what it is going to be like, maybe I should request a transfer."

Shinji turned to Rei, her voice had remained the same but there was almost a look of hurt across her face. He lowered his head trying to think of what to say, he had already angered Rei today and he didn't have any intention of driving her away with his words.

"You don't have to do that, maybe you should try apologizing to her though, it might be a start."

Just outside of the clearing Asuka was leaning against a tree, listening into the conversation. She looked around noticing both Rei and Shinji were talking, their backs away from where she was. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and checked her phone again.

'_Why am I getting upset over this? It's stupid just because the idiot raised his voice, that's no reason to upset, I don't get upset at other things. Just because he's standing up for that blue haired bitch._

She looked and noticed her phone appeared to be giving her a signal now, she was about to dial in the number for Misato when she heard Shinji speaking near her, startling her slightly.

"Agent Sohryu, are you alright?"

She looked at him and spoke.

"Yes of course I am I was just checking the phone again, we're getting a signal now so we can probably get in contact with Katsuragi."

"Good, tell her we need an autopsy performed on the body. Preferably by someone we can trust."

"Leave it to me, I know the perfect person who can do it for us."

**Morgue – 1615 hours**

"I can't believe you talked me into doing this."

"Oh come on Hikari, we need you to do this."

"Why me? Any of the other people here could have done it. I'm a lecturer at the academy not a field agent. Besides, it's against regulations, you haven't even gotten permission to do this."

"Look, the body is unidentified and died under mysterious circumstances. We have our director of operation's blessing on this."

"Unidentified by whom?"

"Well me and Agent Ikari but…"

"Agent Ikari, you're doing this for him? I'm surprised at you, I thought you would have been more intelligent than that."

"I'm not doing this for him, and what do you mean more intelligent?"

"As much as I feel sorry for him, and the way many Agents within NERV ridicule him for his beliefs, sometimes I can't help but think he deserves it. I mean, he threw away a career here to look into such ridiculous things as the paranormal and aliens."

"So he's a bit strange, is that really important? Besides which, he isn't the one asking for this, I am, so are you going to do it?"

Hikari sighed and looked at her friend

"I guess so, I'm here now aren't I? Show me the body."

Asuka nodded and turned towards the entrance to the morgue, the two of them entered the room to find Shinji already standing there waiting for them. He made his way over to them both and extended his hand out to Hikari.

"Agent Horaki, thanks for doing this on such short notice."

She shook his hand and smiled back at him politely.

"Not a problem, I just need to ask a few questions first. What was the body's condition when you found it?"

"Heavily burnt across the face, and throughout the body there were burns everywhere. The victim was wearing a uniform of some sort, with a logo which had seven eyes within it on the shirt. The victim had no belongings of any sort, no ID, no wallet or anything."

"I see, well lets get started."

Hikari walked over to a counter and picked up a small recording device, she pressed one of the buttons on it and spoke into it.

"Beginning autopsy at four twenty pm, Autopsy is being performed by Agent Hikari Horaki with Agent's Sohryu and Ikari present."

She removed the covers, revealing the body on the counter and stepped back in surprise at the state of the body. The face was just as Shinji had said, completely charred and unrecognizable, the rest of the body was also severely burned. She spoke into the device again.

"I have just removed the cover and taken my first look at the body, victim is male and has severe burning on the face and throughout the body. The burns appear to be in some sort of pattern and have been inflicted by someone else. There also appear to be two stitched wounds around the sides of the body. From initial observation I'd estimate time of death to be around twelve thirty today."

Asuka and Shinji exchanged a glance, that was about the same time they had entered the forest. They let Hikari continue speaking.

"The pattern on the body seems to consist of eleven circular sections, all connected to each other."

Shinji's quickly moved forward and began looking at the body more carefully, counting each of the circular sections Hikari had mentioned and the number of connections. Hikari paused the recording the device and spoke to him.

"What is it?"

"The marking, what you just said reminded me of where I've seen it before. It's a Jewish Religious symbol, the tree of life."

"I see."

She un-paused the device and began speaking again.

"I am now beginning the internal examination."

She put the recorder down on the counter and picked up a scalpel. She looked up at Asuka and Shinji and smiled.

"You two don't have to stay for this part you know."

They both looked at her and nodded but remained where they were. Hikari made her way over to the body and began to make a vertical incision into it, from the base of the throat down towards the pelvis. The first thing she noticed when she opened the body was the blood within it, it was a strange orange color. She looked up at Asuka and questioned her.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Asuka nodded.

"Yes, several times, we don't know where it comes from, only that it's been present in some of the cases we've been a part of. All we know is it's called LCL, I've ran tests on it only to find it is a ninety nine percent match to human blood. It seems to act in the same way as well."

"I see, well I don't think we can use this for identification so we'll have to make do with something else, I do however want to take a sample of it to analyze further."

"I can take care of that, if you want."

"Thanks, ok now to take a look inside."

Shinji stared down to the ground at hearing her say that, he tried to focus his thoughts on something else for that moment, while he waited for Hikari to finish. Asuka also took to looking at the other side of the room, at the now highly interesting cabinet full of test tubes and other scientific devices. After what seemed like an eternity, Hikari finally spoke, her voice slightly jubilant at seeing the two agents doing their best not to look at the body.

"You two can look now, I'm done with the body."

They both stepped forward towards her and looked at her expectantly. Asuka was the first to speak.

"So, what did you find?"

"Aside from the liquid you call LCL nothing unusual inside the body. That's not what concerns me though, I did find trace amounts of actual blood within the body. I'd have to run some tests on it, but it looked as if it was turning into the LCL substance. I also found out the cause of death."

"The burns?"

"Surprisingly no, our victim suffered what I can only describe as a complete system failure. His entire body just…shut down. What is really strange is that it seems like the burn marks on the victim came after he died, at least a good couple of hours or so later."

"But who would have done such a thing?"

"I don't know, that's yours and Agent Ikari's job to find out. At a guess I'd say some strange religious cult. Agent Ikari mentioned it was the tree of life on the victim's body, victims of sacrifices often have religious markings engraved into them."

Asuka tilted her head and looked at the body on the slab, her eyes wandered to the stitch marks on the sides of the body.

"What about the wounds on the sides of the body?"

"I took a look and found nothing, again just speculation but I'd say bullet wounds. Maybe from a similar type of weapon to the ones NERV issue out to its agents. Upon closer inspection there were more wounds, all of them sustained today."

"What time?"

"I honestly couldn't say, they look recent though."

The man from earlier that day flashed into Asuka's mind, she and Shinji had fired four shots at him, however he recovered from them immediately. There was also the matter of the time of death, according to Hikari the time of death was about the time they entered the forest, the same time the man they were chasing had escaped and the same time she lost track of Shinji. Also, the exact same time she had encountered Agent Ayanami in the forest. She bit her bottom lip and looked over towards Shinji, he too appeared to be deep in thought about the whole thing. He looked up at her and then turned to Hikari and spoke.

"Is there any chance we could get a positive identification on the body?"

"It'll be difficult, but there are still a few things left I can use to get an ID."

"Thanks, can you do it now please?"

"Umm sure, it might take a while though so you two might want to wait outside."

"Fine with me."

The two of them made their way out of the morgue, leaving Hikari to do her job. Once outside Asuka, quickly turned to Shinji and spoke.

"It was Agent Ayanami."

"What, what are you talking about?"

"Look, think about it right. The time of death was about the same time we lost track of him, the same time I got separated from you. A few minutes later I encountered Agent Ayanami in the forest. That person in there is the same person we were chasing, it has to be, there's no other possibility."

Shinji sighed and looked at her in disbelief, he thought about her explanation. It did make sense but he knew Ayanami couldn't have done that. He thought about what happened to him earlier in the forest and wondered if he should tell Asuka about it.

"It can't have been. There was only a few minutes between you losing sight of him and then encountering Ayanami. She wouldn't have had time to kill him and then burn all that into him. Besides which, there was…."

He quickly stopped himself from telling her about the light her saw and Ayanami coming towards him and freeing him from it.

"There was what exactly?"

"There was no way she could have caused all of his major organs to fail all in one go, I will admit there is a lot we don't know about her, but she isn't a murderer."

"Unless it was in her orders to do so."

"I think you're being unfair to her."

"Unfair? She attacked me, she came at me, unprovoked, with a knife, Ikari. She doesn't even have the guts to apologize to me later and expects me to be fine with it, just because she was carrying out 'orders'?"

"I guess…maybe you're right. It's just when you were away I had to work on something with her, take down some guy called Ramiel."

"Yes I know, I read the case report, what about it?"

"She told me she has nothing else but NERV, I'm angry that she attacked you and I wish we knew more about her, but if she thinks she has nothing else then how can we blame her for it?"

"Fine, whatever, I can't be bothered to argue with you. I'll tolerate her for now."

"Thank you."

The area fell into silence as they both waited for Hikari to exit with some news. After a short while the door opened and Hikari stood there with a bewildered expression.

"I…have some news regarding our victim."

**Stooges Residence – 1800 hours**

"You knew that was going to happen didn't you?"

Shinji grinned and looked out the car window.

"Yes, as soon as I saw that logo on his shirt I had a feeling something like that would happen. You were thinking the same thing though weren't you."

"What, that when we did get a positive ID we'd find nothing on the victim? I had a vague idea, seems to be the way our cases go, we find someone try to find out who they are and run into a brick wall."

"Right, someone doesn't want us to find out anything about those people. Agent Ayanami, my father, that victim the source of these cases we've been sent on, they're all connected, the only question is why?"

"Ayanami?"

"I believe so, although unlike the others I don't think she understands why. She's only carrying out the wishes of the others."

"What about our victim?"

Shinji thought about it for a moment and said the only thing that came to his mind.

"Maybe he disobeyed them, or they ran out of a use for him?"

Asuka pulled the car into the parking lot and looked up at the apartment. She sighed and hung her head in disgust.

"Ok, so I understand all that, the only question is why did we have to visit the two stooges?"

Shinji laughed at her comment and opened the car door.

"Because despite being 'stooges' as you put it, they can also help us get more information on our victim, just like they were able to get more information on Ayanami."

"Yes but when they got the information on Ayanami the information was subsequently hidden by that same logo we keep seeing."

"Simple, we'll get them to print it as soon as it appears on screen."

"Right, I still don't like the idea of it though, you realize what happens if we get caught?"

"Yes I do, but if we find out the truth in the process it's worth it. Besides which you just had your friend perform an unofficial autopsy."

"Well that's different…that's…alright you win."

They both stepped out of the car and made their way up to the apartment, once there Shinji knocked on the door and waited for an answer. A few moments passed with no answer so he knocked again, receiving no reply once more.

"They're…. not in? What is this world coming to if they of all people aren't in?"

Shinji couldn't help himself but laugh, he would have tried to defend his friends but in this case he had nothing. A noise was heard on the other side of the door, Shinji stopped laughing in time to hear Kensuke's voice.

"Who is it?"

Shinji called through the door.

"It's Ikari and Sohryu, open up."

The familiar sound of the locks being opened was heard and the door finally opened to reveal Kensuke standing there wearing a pink apron with a spatula in his hand. Asuka immediately burst out laughing, causing Shinji to do the same. Kensuke just stood there glaring at them both.

"Yeah yeah hilarious isn't it, what do you both want?"

"Sorry, we need your help again, although if you're busy we could always come back later."

Shinji made his way into the apartment and Asuka soon followed, still grinning heavily, as she walked past Kensuke she couldn't help but comment.

"So what are you cooking? You know the apron suits you, maybe you should wear it more often."

They made their way into the main living area, just like Asuka expected the room was exactly the same as it had been when they were last in there. Cables all over the place linked up to computers, in fact Asuka could have sworn more had been added since they were last here. Touji turned around from his screen and noticed they had entered the room.

"Hey Shinji, how ya doing man?"

"I'm good, look we have something we need you guys to look into again."

"Not a problem, what is it?"

"We need you to look up a person again, although this time as soon as the information appears we need you to print it out. We're expecting that logo to flash up again and block access."

"Not a problem, when do you need it by?"

"As soon as possible."

"I can get to work on it now, I got a few new things installed that I want to test out anyway. Why do you need it anyway?"

"Can't say I'm afraid, we don't even know ourselves."

"Well be sure to let us know when you do because we might be able to help out."

"Sure thing."

Shinji was about to give Touji the name of the person when his cell phone began to ring. He answered it quickly and began to speak only to be cut off by the other person, almost immediately.

"Hel…"

"_Shinji, it's Kaji there isn't much time for this, you and Sohryu have to get to Ayanami's apartment immediately."_

**Reis Apartment – 1900 hours**

Storm clouds had begun to appear over the apartment complex as Shinji and Asuka pulled up outside the building. Much to their surprise Rei's apartment was situated in one of the more run down areas of the city. The building itself looked old and nearly ready to be demolished. Asuka shouted over to Shinji as they made their way up towards the entrance.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes, this is the address Kaji gave me. He said to get to Ayanami's apartment immediately and then gave me this address."

"How could she live in such a place, it's disgusting."

"I don't know, we don't have time for this, let's get up there quickly."

They both quickly made their way into the dark hallway, just as they did so the sound of thunder roared over head. Shinji made his way forward and the smell of damp attacked his nostrils, he turned to see the rain had started to come down heavily outside and had already began to run down the walls of the hallway. They made their way towards the staircase and began to climb up it, slowly withdrawing their hand guns ready for whatever might be up there.

Eventually they came to the third floor, just where Shinji had been told Rei's apartment was located. They turned into the corridor, the first thing Shinji noticed being the figure lying unconscious on the ground. Shinji ran towards it and immediately recognized it as Rei, he turned towards Asuka who was also kneeling down besides Rei.

"Room 302, this is her apartment."

"Yes, call for help I'll check out the apartment."

He stood back up and edged towards the room, the door was already open so he moved slowly inside. As he stepped inside he wondered how a person could live like this, the apartment wasn't even what could be called an apartment, it consisted of a bed on one side of the room, a single chest of drawers, a small kitchen and a door leading to a bathroom. No more and no less. He stepped into the main area and noticed two figures, he aimed his pistol at them only to find out they were two young girls.

'_Could these be the twins Kaji spoke about… no, they were nineteen, these girls couldn't be a day over eight'_

He lowered the gun and observed the two girls, they were looking at him but not speaking. They were identical with no noticeable differences, between them on the floor was a small doll. Shinji knelt down and spoke to them.

"Are you two alright, what are you doing here?"

Shinji turned and saw Asuka now entering the room, she looked at the two girls with a look of confusion and then her eyes wandered to the doll. Shinji looked at her as she stood there transfixed on the doll.

"Agent Sohryu are you al…"

He was cut off as the two girls began to speak.

"We were playing with our doll, but she isn't well."

Shinji's eyes darted back and forth between the two children, they spoke in unison. He replied to them softly.

"Who are you both?"

"Do you want to see our doll, we think she's dead. Her name is Asu…"

"YOU BITCHES!"

Asuka aimed her gun at the doll and fired a shot directly at it, taking the head completely off of the doll. She then aimed her gun at the girl on the right only to have Shinji grab hold of her hand and push the gun out of the way.

"What are you doing, they're only small children?"

The child on the right began to speak, closely followed by the girl on the left.

"Yes we're only…"

"…small children."

Shinji turned his head towards them after hearing them speak, their voices had changed that time. As he turned he found the two young girls had gone, instead now standing before him were two nineteen year old girls. Shinji released his grip on Asuka's hand and aimed his pistol at them, Asuka not speaking but also doing the same. He stammered out.

"Wha… what are you?"

They once again spoke each one finishing off each others sentences.

"We are…"

"…Israfel…Gendo made…"

"…us like this."

There was a flash of light between them, as Shinji and Asuka looked on, the light subsided and now in front of them stood one single woman. Shinji once again spoke out this time barely able to speak.

"G…Gendo, my father?"

The woman in front of him smiled and spoke, still sounding like two people.

"Correct, we were Angel Project number seven."

There was a flash of light and the two nineteen year old twins stood in front of Shinji and Asuka again.

"We were taken at the age of nineteen…"

"…and altered by SEELE, we were…"

"…altered to operate as one mind…"

"…and one body. Our purpose was…."

"…to succeed where our other Angel"

"….brethren have failed…"

They spoke the final sentence together.

"To eliminate the Evangelion."

"Evangelion?"

"You don't even know? This should make it easier."

The word ran through Shinji's mind and then it hit him, on the day he passed out and Ayanami attacked Asuka that is what Ayanami had called him, she had called him Evangelion Unit 1.

"You mean us don't you? Ayanami was Zero, I am Unit One and Sohryu is Unit Two, am I right?"

"You finally understand, it's a shame it's too late. That knowledge could have saved you."

The two women quickly dashed towards Shinji and Asuka, as they did so the two Agents immediately fired a shot simultaneously at them. A bright field appeared in front of the girls as the bullets rebounded off. Shinji felt a heavy force in his stomach as he was sent backwards by a kick from one of the girls. He looked over and saw Asuka also being sent backwards.

Shinji looked up just in time to dodge a blow from the girl and tried to follow up with a knee to the stomach only to be thrown across the room by the force of the field the girl had brought up. He felt himself hit the wall and go straight through it due to the force, he lay their dazed for a moment, only to have to quickly dodge out the way when Asuka was also sent through the wall. She landed with a huge thud next to him and scrambled to her feet, through the hole in the wall Shinji noticed the two girls had reformed into one woman again and was just standing there.

"We need to think this one through."

"They're able to operate as one mind and have full synchronization with each other, what one see's or feels the other seems to be able to. How do we defeat that?"

"They're in their single form at the moment, if we can somehow keep her like that we might have a chance, follow what I do."

Shinji looked at her with confusion but nodded.

"I think fun time is over now, it's time to destroy you both."

Shinji turned to see Asuka had raised her gun at the woman, Shinji did the same and fired at the exact same time as Asuka. She moved around to the other side of the room as Shinji did the exact same. There was a flash of light and the woman split into two again, one going after Asuka and the other going after Shinji. Shinji saw the girl coming towards him and rolled out the way just as Asuka had done. They both stood with their backs to each other in the center of the room as Shinji quickly spoke to her.

"This dancing around is all well and good but what now?"

"Wait and see."

Asuka dived forward, Shinji followed suit. Both of the girls were now in the center of the room facing each other. Asuka quickly took her chance and fired a series of shots into the girls backs, Shinji followed suit. The bullets merely deflected from the field but each time Shinji noticed the bullets getting slightly closer to the girls. He caught Asuka's eye and she nodded towards him as they both reloaded their pistols. The girls once again moved towards them, only to have both Asuka and Shinji moved back through into Rei's Apartment. Shinji spoke quietly to her again.

"Asuka, I don't think I understand what we're trying to do here."

"You haven't been injured yet have you?"

"No but…"

"I'll explain after we get out of this then, just keep doing what I do ok."

The two girls made their way back into Rei's apartment only to be met with quick knee's to the stomach from both Asuka and Shinji. The two of them staggered towards the center of the room and Asuka and Shinji quickly fired shots at them once again. One of Shinji's shots grazing one of the girls in the shoulder, there was a flash of light again as the two girls merged into the one woman. This time Asuka took her chance, she dived towards the woman knocking her to the ground and unloading the rest of her ammunition into the woman as she ran. She quickly got off and looked over towards Shinji who was staring at her in disbelief, Asuka panting, turned towards him and spoke.

"You see, nice and easy, just like I said."

Shinji sank to the floor and looked onwards at the dead woman lying on the ground, there was a faint glow around her as she once again split into the two nineteen year olds. Both lay there motionless, a pool of orange liquid trickling from the bullet wounds. Shinji let his gun fall to the floor as he looked from the bodies to Asuka who was also kneeling on the floor, once again transfixed on the doll she had shot earlier. He looked at her curiously and spoke.

"Asuka, are you alright?"

She turned to him, an angered expression on her face, but still speaking calmly.

"I'm…fine let's get out of here and wait for Katsuragi to show up."

A/N: Okay because I wasn't too happy with Chapter 10 I wanted to make it up to you all, so Chapter 11 is me doing just that. Hope you enjoyed it. Just on that note the way the twins spoke was indeed inspired by Unbreakable Bond by MBS which I would definitely recommend.


	12. Discovery

_8th June 2015_

**NERV Offices – 0915 hours**

Three weeks had passed since Asuka and Shinji had come into contact with the twins that had called themselves Israfel. Most of that time had been spent with the Agents investigating the whereabouts of the twin's parents and what caused their home to be burnt down. Each day had been a frustrating cycle of going back and forth between locations, filing various reports and speaking to supposed witnesses, only to end up back where they started. After two weeks of this they both decided to drop the investigation, realizing they weren't going to get anywhere.

The investigation into the twins themselves was handled by someone else in NERV, Shinji and Asuka never heard another word about it, despite being the ones to track them down and eventually stop them. Of course they both heard nothing about the investigation, Shinji even wondered if there was an investigation or if they were just being told this to keep them quiet.

The situation regarding Shinji's father had also came to a halt since that day, Shinji had wanted to mention it but every time he was about to say something he stopped himself, not thinking it was worth it. He still wondered though, just what the girls meant that night when they told him it was his father who made them like that. He was wrapped up in this thought when he felt something blocking his way as he walked along. He stumbled backwards and looked up, only to see Asuka's eyes glaring death in his direction.

"Uhh, sorry."

"So you should be, watch where you're going next time, Ikari."

"Sorry"

"You've already said that once, where were you going anyway? You've already passed the office."

Shinji turned and noticed that he was so wrapped up in his thoughts he had indeed walked right past the office. He turned to her and grinned slightly.

"I was just walking."

"What, in a corridor of this size? Not really many places to wander to. Speaking of which, I want to ask you a few things when we actually get inside the office."

She walked past him and he turned to follow her into the office. Once there, he took off his jacket and took a seat behind his desk. Asuka stood in the center of the room, her eyes following him as he sat. She immediately spoke when he sat, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Agent Ikari, you know this office we're in."

He looked at her and nodded slightly.

"Yes…"

"Well I've been thinking, why is it the only one on the basement level and why is it there are three agents crammed into what looks like little more than a converted storeroom when we could be in one of the nicer ones on a higher level?"

Shinji took in her question and looked around the office, he had to admit that since Asuka and Rei had been assigned to work with him the office was looking a bit more crowded, especially considering Asuka wasn't the tidiest of workers and Misato was also coming in quite often.

"It's near to the unsolved case files?"

"Go on…"

"And it…is a converted storeroom."

"Converted by who?"

"Me…"

"Why would you do that? And don't tell me it's near to the unsolved case files because I'm not buying that explanation."

"It's…away from other people."

Shinji lowered his eyes as soon as he made the comment, awaiting some sort of verbal attack from Asuka, the attack he expected never came however as she merely nodded and went over to her own desk. Once there she spoke again.

"Maybe we should think about putting in a request to move to a larger office though, and maybe one with a window."

Shinji didn't respond, yet he actually thought about it, the idea was a good one, except if they did move he'd have to deal with the other Agents, the ones who, unlike Asuka and Rei, ridiculed him and would rather he just left NERV.

"Maybe…"

"Oh come on, put some enthusiasm into it, surely dealing with a few people are worth it, at least we won't be sat in the darkness looking at blank walls anymore."

"Maybe…"

"Are you stuck in a loop again? Moved on from 'sorry' to maybe?"

He grinned and replied.

"Maybe…I don't know, this room sort of has a charm to it."

"What do you mean a charm to it? It's dull, it's dark, it's on the basement level and the coffee machine keeps breaking, I have to keep traveling up to the fourth floor for my hourly caffeine fix."

"Can't you just cut down on caffeine?"

She looked up at him with a mock look of horror.

"Are you joking, that stuffs the reason I joined NERV. Excitement, adventure and all the coffee you can drink."

There was silence for a short while until she continued.

"But seriously, Katsuragi isn't on this floor and we have to answer to her all the time. Anyway, it'd be more convenient for us and who cares what the others say about you or us, we're the ones who got the note of commendation from the director for our work on the Israfel case aren't we? Just because we're more open minded."

Shinji looked up in surprise, the last statement was one of the last things he'd have expected to hear from Asuka.

"You mean you believe in aliens and the paranormal now?"

"Well…I didn't really say that now did I, but I will admit I've seen some things I can't explain between regenerating men, levitating mafia bosses and shape shifting twins, I admit there is more out there than what we know, maybe not Aliens but if it means a window I'll say I believe in it."

"Is a window that important to you?"

"When I was an agent in training I dreamt of an office with a big window"

"Really?"

"Well…no not really, I actually dreamt of myself being hailed as being one of the best NERV Agents there is, but I'm sure my office then had a big window."

They laughed at the comment for a bit, Shinji was about to respond when the phone on his desk rang. He placed his hand on the receiver and called over to Asuka.

"Maybe we could buy one and place it in the middle or something, best of both worlds."

Shinji picked up the phone and almost immediately the other person began speaking, the voice however was not that of a normal person, it was slow speaking and mechanical.

"_Is that Agent Ikari?"_

"Yes, who is this?"

"_A friend, is Agent Sohryu with you?"_

Shinji glanced up at Asuka and replied.

"Yes, she's here."

"_Good, I want you both to meet me at the café opposite the subway station near the NERV building. Come quickly."_

"Hold on a minute, who is this?"

The line went dead as Shinji put the phone down. Asuka looked at him, expecting an explanation from him.

"I don't know, but who ever it is wants us to meet them now."

"Did they say why?"

"No, they just said they were a friend."

"Do you think we should go?"

"I'm not sure, last time I got a strange call it turned out to be useful, the time before that you received one and it was useful. The third could be anyone though, we don't know if we can trust this person."

"Well if we can't I guess two out of three ain't bad."

**Tokyo-3 Central Café – 0930 hours**

The two of them entered the café and looked around, it was completely empty save for the person behind the counter and a white haired man in a suit sitting at one of the tables. Shinji glanced over at him, he was smoking a cigarette and appeared to have some sort of small device attached to his head, near his eyes. Shinji recognized it straight away, a special ocular implant capable of, or as the adverts said, performing miracles. A special device reserved for the stupidly rich or for those of major importance, it didn't take Shinji long to realize just which category this person would have fell into. They both made their way over to him and Shinji spoke first.

"You're the person who contacted us, aren't you?"

The man turned towards him and smiled slightly.

"Yes I am, sorry about the voice masking, there are many people however working against me who would have loved to track me down."

"I see, and just who are you?"

"A friend, please sit down, there is much I have to tell you both."

The two agents sat on the opposite side of the table from the man and awaited him to speak again.

"First off allow me to introduce myself, my name is Spender, C.G.B. Spender. I have been following your work let me tell you, what you have done so far has attracted a great deal of attention from my co workers. Some of it good and some bad, they're not sure what to make of either of you."

Asuka cut in.

"And just who is it you work for?"

"That I cannot reveal, all I can say is I work for a special committee linked to the Japanese government and NERV. By being here today I am risking a lot, I wanted to speak to you about the cases you have both been on recently."

Shinji looked him over, not sure of whether to trust the man or not.

"Go on…"

"As you may have realized NERV has been covering up certain details of those cases to hide the truth from you both. The truth being the identity of the people you have been tracking down. Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, I expect that you have noticed the links between them all?"

"The liquid known as LCL and the field of light they produce?"

Spender looked at Asuka and smiled.

"Correct Miss Sohryu, they are not any random people. They are the remnants of a project started long ago. A project that was started thirty years before the impact incident and was ended on the very same day of impact"

"What project?"

"It goes under many names, the Angel project, Human Instrumentality Project. It was started by an organization called GEHIRN."

"What was the aim of the project?"

"Genetic enhancement Ikari, to create a race of genetically enhanced super soldiers, if you will. The products of which were termed Angels, there were thirteen of these Angels created. You have already seen and taken out five."

Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other and then back to Spender, waiting for him to speak again.

"The angels you see were not what GEHIRN expected and were out of control. Probably due to the test subjects, they were experimenting on criminals, the jobless, young children and anyone who wanted a quick bit of cash. NERV was aware of this and put together what is known as Project Evangelion. That is where you two and Ayanami come into it, you were their chosen three."

"Why us?"

"They need people they can easily keep quiet, you Agent Ikari have quite the reputation among your coworkers and among mine. The only difference is my coworkers are frightened of you because you're the closest to the truth out of anyone. Agent Sohryu, not so long out of the academy and the skeptic, surely you must have thought it strange your first assignment was to someone who was little more then a joke between agents? No, it was no coincidence, you were chosen, just as Shinji was."

Shinji swallowed hard and thought about Spender's words. He had been chosen to take out the angels just like Agent Sohryu had been because people were frightened of him? It was hard to believe, even for him, he looked up and responded.

"What about my father, where does he come into this? He was there a few weeks ago when I ended up in that hospital. What does he have to do with this?"

"I had a feeling you'd be asking that question Shinji. I do not have all the answers for you but I will say your father is known to us. He was involved with GEHIRN and is also one of the people who put your name forward for the Evangelion project. Now if you'll excuse me I have to leave, my coworkers will be wondering where I am."

Spender stood up and made his way out of the café, leaving Asuka sitting next to a shocked Shinji. Shinji felt his right hand clenching and unclenching nervously as Spender's words kept running through his minds. Not only had he been chosen but it was by his father. He heard Asuka speaking but it was distant to him.

"Agent Ikari, are you alright?"

He felt his anger rising as he thought of it more, there was a burning sensation behind his eyes as he blinked away forming tears. Without thinking, he quickly stood up and immediately moved out of the café, Asuka following him quickly. They got outside and Asuka grabbed hold of his arm and swung him around to face her.

"Agent Ikari, what's up with you?"

"Didn't you hear him, my father he's…he's been there all along, he's the reason for this. He abandoned me but he's been there all along, he's been watching me all along, even my job and work, it's all because of him."

Asuka cut him off and responded quickly.

"And think how I feel learning that everything I've done up until now has been scrutinized like a scientist studying a creature under a microscope. You're not the only one to learn something big today."

"I know…but…"

"Look, despite what Spender just said, there's no proof of it. Everything he just said could have been a complete lie."

"Then why was my father at that hospital that time then?"

"I don't know, it could have been any reason."

"I should have known all of this I've done would have been for nothing. I'm just some useless tool of my fathers to be discarded when the jobs complete."

"Stop talking like an idiot, just because he put your name forward for 'Project Evangelion' doesn't mean you're a tool of his. If he put your name forward he must have thought something of you right?"

Shinji didn't respond, instead he just looked down at the ground while Asuka kept on speaking, her anger rising up at the brown haired agent in front of her.

"As far as I'm concerned everything we've done has been our work and under instructions from the director of NERV. Not Mr. Spender, not your father and not anyone else. I'm not going to let some story from an anonymous man with expensive implants and a smart suit get me to start questioning everything. If you want to believe everything and give up like an idiot then go ahead."

"Sorry."

"There you go with the apologizing again, you really don't realize how annoying that is do you?"

"No, but what else am I meant to say?"

"I'll think of something, look lets just put aside what Mr. Spender has said for now. I'm not saying it isn't true but if it is there is nothing we can do at the moment but wait and see what happens. On that note we shouldn't tell anyone about this."

"Right."

**Unknown Location**

Spender moved into the darkened room and headed straight for the head of the table, as he moved, the heads of the others already sitting turned as he moved past them. He took a seat at the end of the table and looked straight on at the shadowed faces of all the others in the room. The rest of the committee, as they were known, representatives from each of the worlds major powers, each one working in secrecy, hidden deep within their respective countries governments.

As soon as Spender sat down one of the other members of the committee, an American turned to him and spoke.

"I'm sure you are aware of why we asked to have this committee meeting."

Spender looked up smiling and nodded.

"Yes I am aware."

"Then you understand our concerns."

"Yes I understand, however there is no reason to be concerned. Please let it be known that my contact with Agent's Ikari and Sohryu was purely for the benefit of this committee."

"Benefit? We delegated the handling of the Evangelion subjects to director Ikari, there is no reason for us to be involved."

"You are not thinking of the big picture, we placed Gendo Ikari in charge of ensuring the subjects were subjected to the Evangelion serum and making sure the instructions for the Angels was handed to the subjects. However Gendo Ikari has failed to gain his Agents trust, which means I had to step in."

"In what way?"

"Agent Ikari is eventually going to find out it is his father who is pulling the strings and when that happens he is going to want nothing to do with his father, or perhaps NERV. If that happens we cannot rely on just Agent Sohryu to take down the rest of the Angels, despite her being our first choice, and we certainly cannot rely on Agent Ayanami either. We need Gendo's son on our side, that is why I met with him, to gain his trust."

"You also revealed the nature of the Angels to him."

"Yes I did, purely to gain his trust. We cannot rely on Gendo Ikari to finish this job, we must use other means. Nothing else has been revealed to Agents Ikari and Sohryu and what was revealed is not of any use to them anyway."

"Do you think gaining their trust will aid us?"

"Of course, trust is the most valuable resource on earth. If they trust us we can control them, even if they do not know it. Do not worry, as Chairman of this committee I only act within SEELE's best interests."

The rest of the committee murmured in agreement as Spender looked on, awaiting the American's next question.

"Understood, I'm sorry for doubting you Chairman Keel. I was just concerned that is all, we have waited too long to let our plans go to waste."

"Your concerns are noted but not required, I am just ensuring we have a backup plan, should Director Ikari fail us."

_9th June 2015_

**Directors Office – 1030 hours**

"Agent Kaji welcome."

Kaji closed the door behind him and stepped into the darkened office, Kaji was surprised that any normal person could work in an environment like this, and then again Director Ikari wasn't what he'd call a normal man. He looked over behind Ikari and saw Deputy Director Fuyutsuki standing behind Gendo silently.

"Director Ikari, Deputy Director Fuyutsuki, we meet again."

Fuyutsuki stepped forward into the light and spoke, a solemn look on his face.

"I only wish it was under better circumstances, what do you have to report?"

"Straight to business, huh?"

Kaji smiled and waited for a response, receiving none, he launched straight into his report.

"As you know, yesterday at nine fifteen hours Agent Shinji Ikari was contacted in his office from a caller asking to meet both he and Agent Sohryu in a café near the Tokyo-3 Central Subway Station. As you have both requested I followed both Agents and observed their meeting with the caller."

Fuyutsuki and Gendo looked at each other, Fuyutsuki spoke once again.

"What was their meeting about, Agent Kaji?"

"I am not certain, I would not have been able to get into the café without being sighted by either of them. The meeting however did seem to have an effect on both Agents and lasted some time."

"In what way?"

"Shortly after the meeting took place and the person left, Agent Ikari promptly stood up and ran out of the café, only to be pursued by Agent Sohryu. They then had what seemed like a heated discussion outside of the café."

"I see, and who was the person they met with?"

"This is the part that's going to shock you both, it certainly surprised me."

Gendo interjected himself, at this point speaking in a harsh tone.

"Get to the point, Agent Kaji."

"Committee Chairman Keel."

"I see, that is all Agent Kaji, you may now leave."

"Yes, Director."

Fuyutsuki watched as Kaji exited the room, when the door closed he turned to Gendo and spoke quietly.

"It would seem the old man has an agenda."

"Yes it does, this might impact our plans."

"How so?"

"Keel is not stupid, he will want to control them and to gain their trust so he can use them for his own means, we cannot allow him to do that. We have our own agenda to carry out."

"Contacting the Agents though, the committee couldn't have been too pleased."

"I wouldn't imagine so, then again Keel is a very persuasive man."

"So what should we do?"

"Wait, we do not know what Keel told them and as far as he is concerned we are still working according to SEELE's scenario. We will observe for now and if need be then we will interfere. We cannot allow our own plans to be compromised because of one careless mistake."

**Misato's Office – 1115 hours**

Shinji & Misato were discussing all that has happened, despite him living back with Misato they have not had the time to discuss anything. Misato tried to get information out of them about what has happened but Shinji, as always, refused tell her anything, scared that if she knows it might endanger her.

Shinji paused for a moment before he knocked at the door, not entirely sure he wanted to go through with this. He could just turn around, go back to his office and pretend to do some paperwork, but then even if he did he'd have to face Misato on the night and she'd most likely berate him for not turning up now. Besides, he had been putting off this discussion with her for three weeks now.

'_She has a right to know what's happened, or at least most of it.'_

He brought his hand up again and knocked on the door, he waited for a moment until he heard Misato's voice asking him to come in from inside the room. He opened the door and found her sat behind her desk, papers all over the desk and a cup of coffee in her hand. It always amazed him how Misato was able to work in such a messy environment, it had been a question he asked himself when he was fourteen and again now when he was twenty eight.

She turned to him and smiled warmly, Shinji smiled back and took a seat near her desk. He glanced over the various documents on the desk, most of it just menial paperwork relating to the last case he and Asuka worked on and also any investigations since then. He didn't get a good chance to look at them as Misato began to speak.

"Shinji, it's good to see you."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't get a chance to speak with you when you asked. I've been busy."

"It's alright I understand, we haven't really been able to talk at home either because we haven't been there much."

"Yeah I know."

She looked at him, not quite sure of how to proceed, she had wanted to speak to him for sometime knowing how the news of his father affected him and wanted to help him. Now that she actually got to speak to him she didn't know what to say. It wasn't easy trying to speak to someone of his age about this sort of thing, if he was fourteen again she'd probably be able to say something. She decided just to stick to the basics for now.

"So, how have you been?"

"I'm alright."

He was lying, Misato could tell immediately, the tone in his voice gave it away every time. They sat in silence for a few moments until Misato asked another question.

"Shinji, why haven't I been informed about anything you and Agent Sohryu have been working on for the past few weeks?"

"What do you mean, you know about the cases don't you?"

"Yes I know but not from you. Ever since we picked up Asuka from the cruise ship you haven't told me anything. Everything I've been told has came from formal reports and word of mouth. Don't you trust me?"

Shinji lowered his head and spoke quietly.

"I do, I just…"

"I understand that you're going through a rough time because of finding out about your father but I want to help you. I want you to tell me about what's happening."

"I know that it's just, everything is happening so suddenly, I need to figure it out myself first."

"Then let me help you, I want to help you sort things out. It's just I don't like having to find out about you from other people."

"I'm sorry I just didn't want to get you involved yet."

Shinji regretted the words the moment they left his lips, he quickly tried to correct himself when he noticed Misato looking hurt.

"I didn't mean that, I just…didn't want to get you or Asuka involved. She only got involved because she said she owed it to me. You and Asuka are needed by NERV to do a good job, I'm not needed I'm just here because…"

"Shinji you know that's not true."

"It is though, NERV doesn't need people like me. I'm not risking anything you…"

She cut him off angrily and brought her hand down on the table, startling Shinji.

"Stop talking like that, if you honestly think that then hand in your resignation now because I don't want to have an Agent who thinks like that reporting to me. I'm not going to stop you Shinji but if you do leave keep in mind what you're leaving behind. You are needed by NERV whether you think it or not, if you weren't needed why would you be the one getting commended for bringing down those twins, why would you be the one chosen to take out Ramiel."

Shinji stood up and found himself shouting back at her.

"Because my father chose me to do it, because he had a use for me!"

The words slipped out so easily he fell back into his chair, his head buried between his hands as Misato looked at him sympathetically. She slowly stood up and put her arm around the young man, trying to console him. She whispered in his ear.

"What do you mean he had a use for you?"

"He…Me and Asuka were contacted by someone yesterday, he said he had been following the cases and he knew about my father being at the hospital. He called the people we have been against 'Angels' and said it was my fathers doing that I was chosen to take out Ramiel and also that I was given the other cases. Everything I've been doing, thinking I've been getting nearer to the truth is just bullshit planted by him to make me believe I was doing something worthwhile."

"Shinji…did you actually believe this person who contacted you?"

"Not at first but he knew, Misato, about each of the cases, he knew the names and the people involved. He knew about my father being at the hospital, he knew it all."

"Was Agent Sohryu with you?"

"Yes she was."

"And what did she say?"

"She told me to not believe what was said."

"Then that's what you should do."

Shinji was about to speak again but Misato placed her finger across his lips, silencing him, and spoke again.

"Shinji, listen to Agent Sohryu and forget about it for now and focus on what you can prove. Work on finding out what you can and forget about whether or not your father chose you to do those tasks because it just sounds like someone trying to throw you off."

"I can't just forget about it though, he's involved, Misato, I know he is, I just can't prove it."

"Maybe he is involved but it's been you who's done everything up to this point, your father didn't tell you to investigate Sachiel did he?"

"No…"

"He didn't tell you or Agent Sohryu what to do, or control you during any of the other cases did he?"

"No…"

"No, it's been you, if he chose you to do a task then it must show he has faith in you in some way, but I can't see how he could have done, he's not a part of NERV. You can't just think you're worthless because of what one person said."

He looked up at her and smiled slightly as she lifted her arm from his shoulder, he spoke quietly.

"Maybe you're right."

She hugged him and then returned to her seat.

"I am, now that we've established that I have something for you and Sohryu to work on."

"What is it?"

**Main Office – 1115 hours**

Asuka sat at her desk looking around the now devoid of life office, she looked up and spotted a small fly hovering around the light and watched it for a few moments before returning to staring blankly at the opposite end of the office. The hum of the three computers was beginning to drive her insane, she couldn't understand how Shinji could have spent so much time working down here on his own.

'_We definitely need a new office, this is so boring.'_

The door to the office began to open and Asuka found herself eager to talk to whoever was about to step through, just to alleviate some of the boredom. Much to her annoyance however the person to step through was the person she would have least liked to speak to at that moment in time. She watched on as Ayanami walked into the office and moved over to her desk, not even glancing in Asuka's direction.

"Welcome back."

"Thank you."

The room fell into silence again, however this time it was accompanied by the sound of Rei using her computer. A few more moments passed until, much to Asuka's surprise, Rei began to speak.

"Agent Sohryu."

"Mmmh."

Asuka looked across to Rei and found her looking over towards the door, seemingly struggling with whatever it was she wanted to say. Asuka sighed and replied again in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, what is it?"

A few more moments passed until Rei eventually turned to Asuka and spoke softly, seemingly finding it difficult to get her words out.

"I would…like to apologize for what happened when I attacked you. I didn't intend to hurt you and I am sorry for it."

Asuka's jaw nearly dropped as she stared back at her, it was the last thing she had expected from her. What surprised Asuka the most however was the difficulty Rei seemingly had to just apologize, it was almost as if the concept was foreign to her. This time Asuka found herself at a loss for what to say, despite the apology she still harbored some feelings of resentment towards her. She wanted to stand up and shout at her, yet at the same time couldn't help but feel some sort of pity for her.

"Thanks, but don't think that makes up for it, I still don't true you."

"I understand."

"Good, how are you feeling now anyway?"

"I am alright now, I cannot carry out any field work yet but I have been allowed to return here."

"I see, what about your apartment."

"I will have to find a new place to live, for now I have been allowed to stay on the ward I was on."

"You mean you don't have anywhere else to stay, you can't stay at a friend's or relatives?"

"I do not have any relatives."

"What about at a friends place?"

"I do not…"

Rei trailed off there, her expression saddened, Asuka looked on, not entirely sure of how to approach her. She turned to her screen and absently mindedly began to type anything, but the thought of what Rei had just said, or nearly said, was running around at the back of her mind.

"Ayanami, if you want you can stay at mine. I can only offer you the sofa downstairs but it's better then being stuck in a hospital ward."

Rei looked up at her and smiled slightly.

"I…would like that."

Asuka smiled back, her previous feelings for the woman seemingly going, she still felt she couldn't trust Rei but at the same time hated the idea that Rei had nothing but herself in the world. The words Shinji spoke a few weeks ago echoed in her mind, that Rei said NERV was all she had.

'_Maybe now I'll be able to learn more about her.'_

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the door to the office burst open and Shinji quickly made his way in. He put on his jacket and looked over towards Asuka.

"There's been an incident at the Central Subway Station, Katsuragi want's us to check it out."

"What's happened?"

"Someone went insane in one of the subway cars, killed three people. The guards there said he was leaking some sort of orange liquid."

"LCL?"

"We don't know yet, but Katsuragi wants us there as soon as possible. The police have tried searching the tunnels but had no luck so they handed it over to NERV."

"As usual."

"Ayanami, Katsuragi told me to tell you that she wants to speak to you about getting a permanent assignment to this section."

"I see."

He looked over towards Asuka who was now just starting to stand up and put her own jacket on, he was about to make his way out of the office when Asuka called him back.

"Hold on there Ikari, no need to seem to enthusiastic. Besides, I've got the car keys."

"Sorry."

She pulled her pistol out of the drawer and loaded it then promptly holstered it in her jacket.

"Right, let's go."

**Subway Station – 1230 hours**

Shinji and Asuka made their way onto the main platform to find it deserted, save for a small number of police officers and Misato. Both he and Asuka made their way under the police tape and over towards Misato. When they arrived she looked at them both with a grave expression.

"It's not good news, the number of dead bodies they gave us at NERV has increased. We're looking at maybe twelve dead and the officers they sent after the person haven't returned yet."

Shinji looked at the tracks and to the officers moving away.

"What happened exactly?"

"They're not sure, apparently the person in the front carriage began to flip out, he attacked three people then moved into the driver's compartment. The train itself is a little way up the line but it's completely came off the tracks, whatever he did it had some force to it."

"I see, where are the survivors?"

"Most have been taken to hospital or taken away by the police before we got here."

"Do we know anything about the person?"

"Nothing, anyone the police have spoken to have no idea who he was, they said he just started going insane, he was quiet one moment and then the next thing they knew he had killed someone and just kept going. The police have sent two officers down to the scene, but they lost communication."

Asuka looked down the tracks into the darkness and then back to Misato.

"So they passed it onto us?"

"Yes, we're to go down to the scene of the crash taking monitoring equipment with us. We need to scout it out before they send rescue teams down."

"You mean there are still people in there?"

"They're not sure, the survivors they did find made their own way back."

Just at that moment one of the police officers leading the investigation called over from the tracks.

"Agent Katsuragi, they're ready to send you and your agents down now."

"Okay, we'll be right there."

All three of them made their way over towards the officers and lowered themselves onto the tracks. When they were on the tracks the officer and staff member handed them three helmets, each with a light attached and what appeared to be a recording device. They each put one of the helmets on and looked down towards the darkened tunnel.

"Right then, I guess we're going."

Asuka looked across at Shinji and smiled slightly.

"What's wrong, you're not afraid of the dark are you?"

"No nothing like that…let's go then."

He began walked towards the tunnel, Misato following him, Asuka watched them both disappearing into the darkness and quickly followed. They walked up the line for about ten minutes until a strange smell hit Asuka's nose. She paused and spoke, her voice echoing through the dark tunnel.

"Hold on, do you guys smell that?"

Shinji stopped and turned towards her, the light from his helmet hitting her right in the eyes. Before she had a chance to shout at him he replied.

"Yeah, it's almost like…"

"Blood."

Both Asuka and Shinji were surprised to see Misato had also stopped and it was her who responded. She didn't give them any chance to reply as she immediately kept walking.

"I think I can see the train up ahead, let's get going."

They continued to walk until they eventually reached their destination, the train had come off the rails and was now blocking most of the tunnel. The front carriage had been turned on its side and flickering lights could be seen inside. Shinji climbed into the carriage and looked around, his torchlight providing little illumination. Behind him he felt Asuka dropping into the carriage along with Misato. The smell of blood was stronger in this section. Shinji looked around and noticed several dead bodies scattered around, blood staining their bodies and the areas around them. Whatever had done this couldn't have been human.

"The smell is coming from further on down the line, there's a trail of LCL leading up the carriage and out as well."

"Do you think that's where the missing officers went?"

"Maybe, I'm going to go check it out."

Asuka was about to climb out of the carriage and move further up when Shinji called her.

"Agent Sohryu…"

"Yes."

"Be careful."

"Of course."

Shinji watched as she climbed out and moved away from the carriage, he turned and came face to face with Misato.

"You're concerned about her aren't you?"

"Of course I am, she's a good…I like..."

In the faint light Shinji could have sworn he had seen Misato start to grin.

"Never mind, we have more important things to worry about at the moment, we'd better call them back and tell them it's safe for the rescue teams."

"Good idea, I'll radio in. You go and make sure Asuka is safe."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, Asuka needs you more than I do at the moment, especially if that person is down there."

Shinji nodded and smiled at Misato.

"Thanks."

**Subway Tunnels – 1245 hours**

As Asuka walked down, the smell of the LCL was getting stronger and stronger, she turned a corner and saw a section of wall illuminated by a flashlight. She kneeled down besides it and examined it slightly, the handle was covered with LCL.

'_Must have belonged to one of the officers sent down, that means our guy must be close.'_

She looked around the area and noticed a small crawlspace next to her, just where the flashlight was pointed. She edged nearer and as she did so became ever more aware of a presence near her, quickly without thinking she span round and pointed her gun at the person nearing her. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Shinji.

"Ikari, can you not do that again."

"Sorry, Misato sent me, she radioed the rescue team to examine what's left of that train carriage. What have you found?"

"What I'd assume to be one of the officers torches and a crawlspace here. I had a quick look before you snuck up on me and it looks like it leads to a room."

"A room, that's impossible we had a look at the layout there's nothing here, there's no reason for it to be here."

"Say's he who believes in aliens?"

"That's different, look it's not that I don't believe you. I mean the room is there in front of us, it just seems strange that it's not on the layout."

"Well no matter what the layouts say I'm looking inside, stay out here just in case our guy decides to come back."

"Yes sir."

Shinji mock saluted which got nothing more than a scowl from Asuka, she kneeled down again and looked around inside the crawlspace. Slowly she climbed inside and began moving into the room on the other side. She stood up and cautiously looked around, the smell of LCL was even stronger in here, it took her only a matter of seconds to realize why. Covering the entire back of the room was a huge tank filled seemingly to the brim with LCL. Along each wall were pipes and in the corner a machine that appeared to be connected to the LCL tank. She stepped forward and looked closer at the tank, as she did so she turned and shouted back to Shinji.

"There's a tank of that LCL stuff in here, it's almost like something out of a sci-fi movie, you know a growth chamber or something."

"Anything else in there?"

"No just pipes and..."

She trailed off as she turned back to look inside the tank, she could have sworn she saw something moving. She looked again, before she had a chance to finish off she felt a huge force sending her flying back into the wall. Shards of glass from the tank flew everywhere. The stench of blood rushed over her as she was covered in LCL. She slowly looked up, resisting the urge to vomit, as she did so she saw the figure in front of her.

'_It's not…that's not human anymore'_

The beast stood in front of her covered from head to toe in some sort of grey cracked armour, Asuka could see sections of it where human skin remained. The face of the being was no longer that of a human but was now grotesquely distorted, where there was once a mouth there was only grey, where there were once eyes now remained two sockets. She raised her gun at the thing and fired two shots only to see them bounce off of its body. From behind her she could hear Shinji shouting.

"Sohryu are you alright in there?"

"I found our suspect, he's been trans…"

She quickly ducked out of the way as the beast came towards her, she was able to get out of the way in time but it caught her arm. Almost immediately she screamed out in pain as she felt its skin graze her. Asuka raised her arm and looked at the wound, it was a mixture of a burn would and almost as if she had been cut at the same time. She raised her gun again, this time aiming for the section not covered by the armor and shot two more bullets. The monster stepped back seemingly in pain but then paused, its grotesque head tilted slightly and staring directly at Asuka. She watched as where she had shot was now replaced by the same grey armour.

'_This is ridiculous how am I mean to stop something that's invincible.'_

Asuka fired her remaining bullets at the monster only to see them bounce off again, she quickly ran up to it and tried to punch it only to have her attack blocked and for her to be overcome by the same blinding pain she had felt when it charged at her. She felt it grab her and throw her towards the tank, as she landed she felt shards of glass enter her back. The being began to make its way over towards her when the sound of gunfire ran out across the room again, both her and the monster turned to the source to see Shinji stood there, his gun aimed directly at it.

Quickly it charged towards him and knocked him into one of the pipes knocking it loose, almost immediately white foam began pouring out of it endlessly. A drop of it fell onto the monster and it roared out. It jumped to its feet and threw Shinji across the room, Asuka by this time had stood up, Shinji turned and threw his gun over at her. She fired a shot from the gun and watched the bullet bounce harmlessly off of the beasts back. It was enough to distract it for a bit though as she quickly dashed over to where the coolant was leaking, she felt some of it dropping on her and a shiver was sent down her spine due to how cold it was. She pulled the thing off the wall and fired more shots at the beast, hoping it would take the bait.

It raised itself up and looked at her, its face still tilted slightly and began to move towards her, she quickly dodged out of the way and rammed the pipe directly into where the creature's eye socket would have been. It roared out in pain as the foam entered its body and began to seep out of the cracks in its grey armor. After a few moments Asuka let go of the pipe and sank to her knees, the monster next to her now seemingly frozen in place. She looked over at Shinji who appeared to be injured but was now slowly getting to his feet and smiled slightly.

"Thanks, guess I owe you one for rescuing me."

He looked at her and then at the frozen figure in front of him.

"Don't mention it, I guess this was the next Angel."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look to your left."

Asuka looked to her left at where she had tore the pipe from the wall, above was a small tank, the white foam still dripping from it. On the center of the tank however was the familiar seven eyed logo.


	13. Fear

_10th June 2015_

**Morgue – 1115 hours**

Shinji walked into the corridor, Rei moving directly behind him. He paused for a moment and looked around before entering the morgue. In the center of the morgue was the medical table, a body draped in a blanket on the top. The arm was hanging down. Shinji moved closer, examining the stiffened arm of the person he and Asuka had apprehended yesterday. He looked around at Rei, her eyes fixed on the covered body in front of them. Shinji was almost certain he could pick up traces of hatred in them.

"Ayanami are you alright?" he questioned quietly.

"I am fine, thank you."

"I hear you're staying at Agent Sohryu's until you can get a new place."

"That is correct."

"So what are the arrangements?"

"I'm sleeping downstairs, she's also requested I help out cleaning up and making dinner."

"And you're okay with that?" Shinji asked, a little surprised.

"It is acceptable, I asked if she wanted me to pay her for staying but she said splitting up the tasks would be easier. She did seem to be agitated that she was not able to come here today though."

"That's understandable, after all she was the one that actually caught the guy"

"I was under the impression that it was both of you, she told me that you both captured him."

"Oh, I see."

Shinji was about to say more however he was cut off by the door opening, two more people entered the room. The first of which was Misato, the second however Shinji did not know, it was a blonde haired doctor around the same age as Misato. As Shinji and the doctor's eyes met, Shinji sworn he had seen her somewhere before, but he shrugged it off. It was then that Misato introduced him to the doctor.

"Good to see you both, I'd like you to meet Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. She's been assigned to work with us."

As soon as Shinji heard the name he remembered where he had seen the woman before, she was one of Misato's friends from when he had lived with her, although back then she had different colored hair.

"Doctor Akagi, good to meet you."

"It's my pleasure, Shinji." She smiled

They shook hands and Ritsuko then turned to Rei and smiled slightly.

"Agent Ayanami, we meet again, how's it going?"

Both Shinji and Misato shot each other concerned glances, the fact that both Ayanami and Ritsuko knew each other was certainly unexpected.

"Fine, thank you."

Misato cheerily cut in.

"Doctor Akagi has been assigned to work with you guys here at the labs, to examine anything you bring in."

"I see."

Shinji nodded and turned his focus towards the body on the table, Risuko was also looking at it curiously. She didn't seem to have noticed the arm yet, or simply didn't care. He moved out of the way allowing her access to it, as she moved towards it she turned to him and spoke.

"Moving onto more important things, what do we have?"

"Unidentified male, attacked several people on a subway train yesterday morning and fled down the tracks. He attacked Agent Sohryu and she was able to stop him, unfortunately killing him."

"I see."

She drew back the cover and looked at the body. He looked exactly the same as he had yesterday when Shinji and Asuka had first encountered him. Dried coolant was caked around the eye sockets, protruding from cracks within the creatures shell, but overall it remained still in its hardened protective case. Ritsuko picked up a scalpel from the tray and tapped lightly at the body.

"Interesting."

"What is?"

"The body, or maybe shell would be a more accurate, is an incredibly hard to break material, it'll be nearly impossible to break through using any of the tools here. Tell me, how many shots did you and Agent Sohryu fire at this creature."

"About two clips."

"Impressive, it's shell was made to withstand any sort of attack ranging from simple hand to hand to gunfire, I'd bet you could even dip this guy in a Volcano and it'd come out unharmed."

"What about the cracks and eyes?" Shinji asked.

"Where did you find it?"

"Some strange sort of tank, there were pipes leading into the tank but it burst through and attacked us," he explained.

"This might sound a bit strange but maybe a type of growth chamber, that might explain the cracks in the armor." Akagi theorized.

Shinji eyed her, suspiciously wondering why she didn't find what he has said even a little bit strange. He spoke again failing to hide his surprise.

"You mean you don't find this bizarre?"

"Oh I do, but I'm just here to examine it. You along with Agent's Ayanami and Sohryu are the ones handling the investigation. Besides growth chambers aren't too far out a concept, they have been experimented with since the impact incident it's just..."

As she spoke her eyes quickly flashed towards Rei and back to Shinji.

"…no one has tried it with a human subject, if this is the case here it's both a brilliant example of genetic alteration." She said "But it's also highly illegal."

"So this is human, just altered?"

"I'd assume so, I won't know more until I find a way into the armor however."

"How long do you think it's going to take?"

"I don't know, conventional tools won't allow me through. I could however use a special tool that is being developed, it would help me examine it and also could provide some more specialized information."

"Special tool?"

"The MAGI, a special operating system that I helped to develop incorporating the latest in Nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, might be helpful. I could inject a few of the nanoprobes linked to it through the cracks in the armor and it would explore what's inside."

Shinji nodded slightly, Misato looked at him confused, murmuring slightly.

"Umm, nanotechnology?"

Shinji turned towards her and spoke.

"Using tiny machines to perform specific functions that humans can't or would have difficulty with, or just to make it easier, for example performing complex medical procedures."

Ritsuko glanced at him, looking slightly impressed.

"You know your stuff it would seem, Shinji."

He blushed slightly, stammering as he replied.

"I...I watch a lot of Sci-Fi shows."

Before Ritsuko could reply to him the door swung open abruptly and Asuka stepped into the room. She immediately went up to Shinji and Rei, panting slightly, seemingly exhausted. Shinji gave her a chance to catch her breath, before speaking.

"Agent Sohryu, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just ran here from the main offices, that's all."

"Why, what's happened?"

"We just got a note, specifically asking for us three. I don't know who but they said it was something we would be interested in."

**Tokyo 3 Grand Hotel – 1150 hours**

The Grand hotel was probably everything that you wouldn't expect from a hotel named as such. Located in one of the more rundown areas of the city, it was the type of place that attracts only those who had just enough for a room for the night or those who wanted a cheap thrill away from prying eyes. Shinji stepped out of the car and looked down the street. All the buildings had the same gaunt, rundown and grey look about them. He shut the car door and waited for both Asuka and Rei to step out before moving towards the hotel. As he moved towards the front he heard Asuka muttering under her breath as she eyed the various pieces of trash and stains littering the ground.

"Disgusting."

He refrained from speaking but inside he agreed with her, he moved into the hotel, brushing a cobweb off of him as he entered the main lobby. Inside was completely empty, he walked up to the reception desk and tapped the bell, waiting for someone to appear. After a few moments of waiting he turned to both Agents and sighed impatiently.

"I guess there's no one in, should we just head up to the room?"

Asuka turned towards the staircase and nodded.

"I don't see why not."

She began to make her way over towards the stairway when a man appeared from one of the corridors and blocked her off. He eyed her and grinned wickedly.

"And where do you think you're going lady?"

Asuka glared at him, a disgusted expression on her face, he was a short fat man, bald and wearing a stained white vest. She wasted no time in reaching for her ID and showing it to him.

"I'm Agent Sohryu from NERV, we're here regarding the incident that took place here last night."

"NERV, eh?"

He paused a moment, looking at all three of the Agents, and smiled slightly, he moved aside allowing them past.

"Well I'm not going to stop you, just try not to disturb any of the clients, we don't want people to think this is a bad place."

Asuka moved past him but stopped before she got to the staircase.

"I'll keep that in mind, before we go I'd like to ask a few questions about the person."

"Go ahead." The man nodded.

"Was she a regular at this hotel?"

"No, never seen her or her friend before. They both checked in late last night, none of them checked out. Found the woman dead in the room this morning and no trace of the man."

"So then, has anything like this ever happened before?"

Asuka watched his eyes as he replied, it was obvious he was lying.

"People dying in rooms? No, never." He shook his head, somewhat rattled.

"That'll be all then, get the records of when they checked in ready for us when we come down and the details."

"Yes."

She put away her ID and began to move up the staircase, both Shinji and Rei following her. After a short while she made it to the third floor, various smells filled the areas she walked on. She assumed drugs, it wouldn't surprise her if this wasn't the first incident of this type in here. It was common for people to die of drug overdoses in establishments such as this. She reached her destination and moved to open the door, stopping as she reached the handle and recoiled slightly.

"Urgh."

Shinji moved over, looking concerned as he examined the door.

"What is it, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just there's a spider on the door handle. Do you think maybe you could open this, Ikari?"

He began to move his hand towards the door handle and then paused when he caught sight of the eight legged creature on it. He knelt down slowly and took a closer look, it was a pale orange color, similar to that of a tarantula, but much smaller. As he looked, Asuka knelt in, looking at it.

"I don't know much about Spiders, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen that in Japan."

"No nor have I, what do you think Ayanami?"

He turned his head and noticed Rei was standing with her back firmly against the opposite wall, her eyes showing traces of fear. She looked towards the spider and nodded slightly.

"No, I've never seen anything like that." she stuttered.

Asuka stood up and looked at her.

"How could you have seen it from there?"

"I…I…"

A wicked grin came across the red haired Agent's face as she suddenly realized the reason for Rei's reluctance to move towards the door.

"You're scared of it, aren't you?"

Rei merely nodded, her face glowing slightly red, it was the first time Shinji or Asuka had ever seen Rei act with real emotion.

"I dislike…spiders."

Shinji stood up, also smiling slightly, he looked at the door and then to the door handle and brought his hand back from opening it. Asuka turned to him, still grinning.

"Not you as well, are you going to open it then?"

"I don't see you moving to open it." he retorted.

"That's because," Asuka paused nervously "Look, this isn't about me. Ayanami's the one with the fear of Spiders."

"Yes, but what if it bites me?" Shinji glanced up, sheepishly.

"Well what if it bites me?" Asuka replied, snapping at him.

They both stood there and thought for a moment, until Shinji finally spoke again.

"Ok, there's only one thing for it."

Both of them looked at each other and nodded, Rei looked on from the opposite side, wondering what the two of them were doing. She watched as they both counted quietly to three, turned and kicked the door open, sending the spider hurtling towards her, she quickly moved out of the way and looked around to see Asuka laughing at her.

"You really don't like them do you?"

Rei shook her head and moved towards them both.

"Can we please get on with this?" she said.

"Of course, you know I've always wanted to do that." Asuka remarked.

"Do what?"

"Burst through a door, always sounded like fun."

"I don't understand."

"Never mind, let's just see the body…"

She paused as she entered the room and immediately went pale, she looked at Shinji, he had also gone pale as the putrid smell hit their noses. Towards the center of the room lay the body they had came to look at, around it on the carpet were bloodstains and the legs and arms appeared to be held down by various cobwebs. From behind her Asuka heard Ayanami slowly back out of the room. She turned towards her, wishing she could do the same.

"That's disgusting."

Shinji nodded, fearing that if he spoke he would throw up, instead he moved closer towards the body and peered into it. The body itself appeared to be fully intact, however there did appear to be insect bites amongst the flesh, with two larger bites up near the neck. Shinji flinched when he thought he saw something moving inside. He and Asuka leaned in closer and noticed it was the squirming body of another one of those Spiders they had encountered previously. Shinji breathed deeply and turned to Asuka.

"We need to get this body out of here and examined."

"No kidding, we need to find the person this woman was with as well."

"Let's get out of here and call NERV and get them to get this body to a lab, we should ask the guy downstairs a few more questions about this too."

**Medical Labs – 1310 hours**

Asuka stared over at the body on the slab, moving her eyes towards the spiders squirming around in the tank. She shuddered slightly as she watched them running, vainly trying to escape from their glass prison. She wasn't usually scared of something as silly as a spider, but something about this type struck her, it had an even worse effect on Rei, who was waiting outside the room. Asuka smiled slightly at Rei's reaction to the eight legged creature, it was amusing to know she'd some sort of fear. It made her seem slightly more human than she had been in the past few weeks.

Her view of the tanks was obscured when Shinji stepped directly in front of them and lowered himself to get a good view of the contents. Asuka couldn't help herself but comment on the way he was studying them.

"You know, they're strange but I don't think they're going to be able to communicate."

He turned around and smiled before frowning slightly and turning back round to look at the spiders.

"I'm not trying to communicate with them, but I'm wondering where they came from."

"Some weirdo imported them illegally into the country most likely, it's not unusual. If I remember correctly about six years ago there was an incident in the US where a man supposed to testify against a crime boss was being transported in a plane, and the crime boss was able to smuggle hundreds of illegally imported snakes onto the plane and they got out, attacking everything."

"Did that really happen, it sounds ridiculous, sounds like a bad movie plot?"

"No it happened, caused quite a bit of bother as well."

Ritsuko came into the room. Asuka looked at the doctor, she had caught a glimpse of her earlier on in the day but this was the first time she had been able to see her up close. Their eyes met for a brief moment and almost immediately Asuka felt as if she had met the woman somewhere before.

"Agent Sohyu, Ikari I've finished the analysis on the body. I had the Magi run the analysis to save time. You might find what its came up with quite interesting."

Asuka looked at her before speaking.

"Sorry, have I met you before?"

Ritsuko stared at the red headed agent, blinking for a few seconds before responding calmly.

"No I don't think so, I haven't been in Tokyo 3 long, I've been elsewhere working on the Magi systems."

"I see, never mind, just thought I recognized you that's all."

"No worries, now do you want to see what the Magi has came up with?"

"Sure thing."

She lead them out into a corridor where they met up with Rei again, as they followed Ritsuko she began to explain some of the results and a bit more about the nature of the Magi.

"As you know the Magi were developed to be a perfect artificial intelligence system that can fit in anywhere. Medical analysis and research, governmental decision making, the MAGI was designed to handle it all. NERV is currently serving as the main testing area for the MAGI system."

Shinji nodded, not really too interested. Ritsuko didn't notice and continued speaking.

"Being tested alongside the MAGI Systems is the first practical implementation of nanotechnology, tiny machines that we are able to inject into the patient and carry out major medical procedures and autopsies, eliminating the risk of a human doctor accidentally slicing open something that shouldn't be sliced."

Asuka chimed in at this point.

"You mentioned government use, I suppose they could be used to watch over people as well."

They all paused. Shinji looked at Asuka oddly, usually it would be him to ask such a question. Ritsuko raised her eyebrows in surprise, trying to think of a way to reply.

"Well…I suppose, but that's not what it's intended for. That's why we're only focusing on the medical areas for the moment."

"What about genetic engineering?"

Ristuko frowned, trying to work out where Asuka was going with this line of questioning. Asuka stood there, carefully examining Ritsuko's reaction and reply.

"Possible once again but genetic engineering has been outlawed by the Japanese Government so I doubt we'll be seeing it used for that any time soon."

"I see, so what did it come up with in our example?"

They entered another room, it was set up like a laboratory but towards the center were three huge computer towers. Each one had a name written on it, Shinji immediately recognized the names.

'_Melchior, Balthasar, Casper.'_

"It scanned the body you found at the hotel and the spiders within it. It also found traces of spider venom within the bloodstream, especially around the bite marks."

"So what did it find out about the body?"

"First of all the spiders within the body and the room you found it in are not native to Japan, nor are they native to anywhere in Asia. In fact, when asked to cross reference the Spider DNA it was unable to match with anything within the database."

"So it failed?"

"No, it was merely unable to produce a match within the known types of arachnid; it was however able to find partial DNA matches with another species. Now at first I wasn't sure if this was the system malfunctioning but I ran the test again and got the same results."

"What was the match?"

"A twenty eight percent match with humans, the rest inconclusive."

Shinji muttered under his breath.

"Impossible…"

"Second thing it found out was when analyzing the bite marks. All but one of the bite marks matched the spiders found. However when analyzing the main bite mark on the neck it found that the bites did not match that of a spider but that of a…"

"…human."

Everyone turned to look where the voice had come from; standing towards the back of the room focused directly on Ritsuko was Rei. Ritsuko merely looked at her, impressed that she would have known.

"Correct, Agent Ayanami."

Shinji was about to ask a further question when his cell phone began to ring, he picked it up and spoke into it.

"Hello."

"_Shinji, its Misato, there's been three more deaths. Employees there are reporting some strange spider infestation in the bodies, but when they move out of a certain range they simply die."_

"Where is this?"

"_Cargo Warehouse 3 over at the Tokyo 3 Main Docks, I want you, Sohryu and Ayanami to check it out."_

"We're on our way."

**Warehouse 3 – Docks District – 1335 hours**

Rei exited the car and was the first to move to the warehouse door, around the corner she could hear voices, she assumed it was from the workers. Two of them rounded the corner and shouted towards her as she knelt down to examine a trail of orange liquid leaking underneath the door.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

She stood up and turned towards them, she immediately withdrew her ID and spoke softly.

"I'm with NERV, we were sent here to investigate the three deaths that occurred inside this warehouse."

The two men looked at each other, not sure of what to make of Rei, one of them stammered out.

"O…Oh right, you're Agent Ikari?"

Rei blinked and looked on coldly at the two workers, she put the ID back in her pocket and replied.

"No, I am Agent Ayanami, Agent Ikari is getting the equipment needed and will be along in a moment. I was just checking around the warehouse."

"You mean there are two of you?"

"Three, actually."

They turned around to see where this new voice had come from, Asuka was walking towards them, carrying a small case behind her. Shinji was also carrying a smaller case. They moved over towards Rei and turned to face the two workers. Asuka introduced herself.

"I'm Agent Sohryu and this is Agent Ikari, were you the two who found the bodies?"

"No it was our boss who found them, we haven't been in the warehouse, all we heard were the screams and something leaving the warehouse."

Shinji raised his eyebrows and spoke, whilst collecting some of the orange liquid trailing from under the warehouse door.

"Something leaving, can you describe it?"

"Well yes, it was about six foot, it looked human but…"

The other man cut in.

"It wasn't, it had these strange legs and arms and other things growing out of it, almost like some strange sort of…"

"Spider?"

They looked at Shinji and nodded.

"Yes, that's right."

Shinji stood back up and handed Asuka the sample of liquid he had picked up, he whispered to her.

"Recognize it?"

She smiled and nodded.

"LCL."

Asuka opened the case and placed the sample inside it and looked up towards the men.

"Where can we find your boss?"

One of the men pointed towards a small white office building.

"He'll be in the offices, over there."

"Tell him we'll want to speak to him after we've finished up in here."

"Yes."

They both turned and moved towards the building, leaving the three agents to converse amongst themselves. Shinji was the first to speak.

"Traces of LCL here as well, it seems our killer is another Angel."

Asuka nodded and moved towards the door, on the floor she could see the body of a dead spider, the same type they had seen in the previous murder. She moved the door open and shone her torch around in the warehouse and immediately stepped back in fright, dropping her torch. She turned to Rei and Shinji smiling slightly.

"Well now that I've established the bodies are indeed in there, I think we can begin examining it. Shinji, do you want to take the lead?"

Shinji noticed she had become rather pale and seemed to be slightly frightened, he looked at her blankly, Rei did the same. Asuka just continued to grin, bending down to pick up her torch and passing it to Shinji. He looked at the torch and then to Asuka.

"What's in there?" he asked.

"Nothing, take a look."

She quickly moved behind him and shoved him into the warehouse without giving him a chance to turn the torch on. She turned to Rei and noticed Rei was looking at her harshly, Asuka merely smiled and nodded towards her.

"I don't think you'll want to go in there."

"I do not understand."

Just as Rei finished speaking they heard a yell from inside the warehouse, Asuka laughed and waited for Shinji to exit. From inside they heard him shouting.

"Holy shit, this place is covered in them."

Almost immediately Asuka saw Rei's eyes open wider with fear.

"That's why you don't want to go inside."

A shout came from inside the warehouse again, this time it was Shinji sounding rather amused.

"It's alright, they're all dead anyway."

Asuka peeked her head round the corner and was immediately blinded as Shinji accidentally shone the torch in her eyes, causing her to shout back at him.

"You idiot Shinji, what did you do that for?"

"Sorry."

Asuka stepped back and looked at Rei quizzically, Rei still seemed hesitant to enter the warehouse.

"You know, I used to think you had no emotions, especially with how you acted when we first met and how you act in the office, but seeing you like this is quite amusing." She grinned

Rei glared at her, her expression not changing. Asuka laughed and continued speaking.

"Sorry, I just found it strange, why are you scared of Spiders anyway?"

Rei turned towards her and frowned slightly.

"They are…unnatural."

Asuka nodded, somehow understanding what Rei meant, although she herself wasn't scared of them she had to admit there was something a bit unnatural about them. She began to enter the warehouse and turned, noticing Rei moving slowly behind her.

"You know, you don't have to come inside if you don't want to."

"I am fine, it's my job."

They entered the warehouse and moved over to where Shinji was, inside there was a heavy stagnant smell that couldn't be placed. The floor had become a mixture of spider's webs, dead spiders and LCL. Towards the center of the room lay the three bodies of the workers. They were covered in a mixture of blood, LCL and webbing. Asuka knelt down and opened her case and began to collect samples of the LCL on the floor.

She then moved over to the body Rei was kneeling beside and put on a pair of gloves. Examining the neck of the victim she saw the two bite marks on the side of the neck, noticing immediately they were done by a human. Around the marks were traces of a thick orange liquid, seemingly burning into the skin.

"What do you think of this?" Asuka asked.

"It looks like acid, it's eating into the skin."

"Agreed, we'll send a sample back to Akagi."

Asuka reached over and attempted to collect a sample of the acidic liquid, however just as she moved towards the body she noticed something moving under the skin. She watched it burrowing out and running away from the body. It was heading towards the front entrance of the warehouse but seemed to just die when it reached the other spiders bodies.

She watched as another spider scurried out from one of the other bodies and repeated what the previous one had done. Confused, she called out.

"Did you two see that?"

Shinji turned from examining another one of the bodies and replied.

"See what?"

"The spider, crawled out of the body and headed towards the door way but died when it reached a certain point. Another one just done the same thing, look at that area, it's where the trail of LCL goes but it's where most of the dead spiders seem to be."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"I'm just thinking, the workers mentioned the thing they saw was half spider half human right?"

Asuka glared at him, wondering where he was going.

"Yeah…but they could have been exaggerating. A thing that's half spider half human, what do you think this is?"

Shinji stood up and began excitedly explaining his theory while Asuka and Rei simply looked on.

"No, what if it's true, what if somehow that's what has happened? That would explain this new breed of spider; they're related to the bigger one. All these ones that are running out at trying to find the 'Queen' so to speak."

"Right, so why are they dying?"

"They're out of range of their host, where they grow, and just die off."

Asuka stared at him blankly and replied.

"Right, so what you're saying is the thing we have to track down can control spiders, kills people and injects spiders into those dead people. Oh and it spit's acid, can't forget that of course, and it also leaks LCL."

"Precisely."

She slapped her forehead and sighed heavily.

"That… as to be one of the stupidest theories you've came up with yet Shinji."

"But you can't deny it might be true?"

She turned to Rei who was also looking at Shinji oddly.

"What do you think Ayanami, could he be right, or has he finally gone insane?"

"Given what we can see and the eyewitness reports, it might hold some merit, but it shouldn't be possible."

Shinji looked at them both, smiling slightly.

"That's right it shouldn't be possible but look at what has happened, neither should any of that."

Asuka sighed again and stood up, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was sure Shinji was insane, this was proving it, she couldn't however deny the possibility of it so decided to give it a chance on one condition.

"Okay, but before we head off looking for some weird sci-fi hybrid, can we analyze what we've got here and then base our opinion on that?"

"Ok, sure thing."

_12th June 2015_

**Medical Labs – 2000 hours**

Ritsuko was staring at the data rolling down the screen, writing down specific things on a small notebook next to her. She stood up and moved over towards a small coffee machine that had been set up in the corner. Just as she began to pour herself a cup, her cellphone began to ring. Looking at the caller ID she smiled slightly and spoke into it.

"Director Ikari, to what do I owe this honor?"

"_What is the status of the ninth Angel?"_

"Still unfound, it has killed four at the moment, all three Units are investigating a potential sighting at the moment. It would seem they are on track though, the bodies brought in today contained Angel DNA."

"_I see, did any of them recognize you?"_

"Shinji didn't, he was sedated when I injected him with the serum, Asuka however might have done. She did ask if we had met before but I told her I had never been to Tokyo 3 before."

"_I see, if problems arise dispose of her. We cannot afford to mess up, especially now that Keel has contacted them."_

Ritsuko tried to hide her shock when she heard Gendo say to dispose of her, but did not do a very good job of it.

"Y-Yes sir."

"_No hesitation, she is expendable."_

"I understand."

She awaited a response, instead the phone simply shot out a burst of static followed by silence. She tried to take a look at the screen but noticed the phone had somehow turned itself off.

'_Oh great, now wha…'_

Just at that moment every device within the lab turned itself off, from down the halls she heard various shouts and crashes and quickly dashed to where the door was. Looking down the hall she saw only darkness. She vaguely made out the shadow of one of the doctors moving towards her and called out.

"What's going on?"

"City wide blackout, the power has gone out all across the city."


	14. Blackout

_12th June 2015_

**Apartment Complex – 2010 hours**

Fear: a basic human emotion or reaction to a situation where someone may experience anxiousness or a sense of unease. Fear can manifest itself in many ways: shaking, sickness, paranoia, dizziness or a mixture. It was an emotion Rei Ayanami was quickly becoming acquainted with as she followed behind Agents Ikari and Sohryu through the cramped apartment building.

The feeling only heightened with each corridor they entered and with each room they explored as they saw more and more of the sticky white cobwebs hanging from the ceilings and the walls. Sometimes tangling themselves around the Agent's feet, as Rei walked she could hear the crunching and cracking of dead spiders bodies beneath her, each step causing her to feel slightly more sick than she already was.

Looking ahead she saw the light from her torch shining against the back wall, illuminating more webbing and a distant door. Both Ikari and Sohryu noticed the obvious obstruction and paused taking a few moments to think. Rei stood silently, trying to keep calm and focused, as she had been taught to be in tense situations, trying to will the fear out of her mind. She had always had a hard time trying to grasp emotions, yet for some reason this one fear of hers was always there watching her, waiting to pounce or bite.

Asuka began to speak, her voice echoing through the corridor.

"Looks like this is the last room, and judging by the state of the entrance the one we're looking for."

Shinji stepped towards the door and brushed away some of the webbing on the handle, before readying his gun. Asuka and Rei both did the same and moved towards it, Rei took a deep breath and readied herself as Shinji began to pry the door open. Slowly, and with a loud creaking noise, the door opened, revealing the room. The very sight of it sent a collective shudder down all their spines. Rei slowly stepped backwards as she stared straight ahead. Inside it was the familiar cobweb they had seen all around the rest of the building but it covered the entire room. Except for the solitary hanging light, the entire room was entirely white, grey and in some cases red, the cobwebs stained with blood.

All three Agents exchanged glances until Asuka finally gave in with a sigh.

"Okay I'll go in first seeing as you two look too scared, you're lucky I'm here y'know, just think where you'd be if I wasn't."

With those words she stepped into the room, kicking away some of the cobwebs. Shinji merely smiled at her comments, however Rei felt herself frowning slightly. One thing she had noticed in the brief time she had known Agent Sohryu was that she could be quite arrogant towards others at times and could often insult others such as Shinji without really thinking about it. A few more moments went by until Asuka's angered voice came out from inside the room.

"Look, as much as I love treading in cobwebs, I would appreciate a bit of help in here. That means you Ikari, get your ass in here, there must be at least four bodies in here."

Shinji took a step forward into the room and knelt down near one of the bodies buried beneath the webbing. He began to move some of the webbing away when he felt something creeping across his neck. It moved slowly but with each slight movement it sent an ice cold chill down his spine. He tensed up and got ready to speak until he heard Rei speaking behind him.

"Agent Sohryu, what are you doing?"

He turned to see Asuka, kneeling near him, smiling awkwardly, her hands placed on his neck. Shinji frowned slightly and turned back to the body, as he did so he heard Asuka replying to Rei.

"Nothing I was just examining the body and using Shinji here to help balance myself."

"I see…"

Shinji felt himself go slightly red as he felt Asuka's hand move onto his shoulder, allowing her to kneel down closer to the body. Tearing away some of the webbing, they got through to the body. Asuka carefully put on a set of gloves and tilted the head of the body, examining the neck, noticing the bite marks. What she found remarkable about this particular set was they seemed to be larger than the others from before.

She put her torch down next to her as Rei switched the light on in the room. It was a lone light providing a small amount of illumination and lighting up the cobwebs a dull orange. Asuka shuddered as she saw a group of spiders converging and dying in the corner of the room.

Getting up, she made her way over to another mound underneath the webbing. Assuming it was another body she immediately began to tear some of the webbing away when the lone light in the room suddenly shut itself off, along with all the torches.

Asuka swore.

"Shit, could that thing still be inside here?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Rei walked over towards the window and looked out across the city.

"The power has gone out across the entire city. It would be logical to assume the power outage has nothing to do with our case."

Asuka nodded, Shinji however shook his head and looked out across the darkened cityscape.

"No, this is related, it might not have been our guy who did it, but I'm sure it's related. It's too convenient." he said.

"Maybe you're getting a bit too paranoid there, Shinji. Who would want to do something like this?"

"Sohryu is right, we should get to our next location. Our cell phones do not appear to be working either." Rei nodded.

Asuka was surprised to hear Rei agreeing with her, she exchanged glances with Shinji and waited until Rei had left the room before whispering to Shinji.

"Keep it to yourself for now, I think you're right but if someone did trigger this, then they could be watching us."

"What you believe..." Shinji started to blurt out before Asuka stopped him.

"I was there when we met Spender you know, and you're right, it is too convenient."

**Director's Office – 2030 hours**

"The entire city is without power, most electrical devices don't appear to be working either. Cell phones appear to be none functional and traffic is at a complete standstill."

Gendo lit the candle in front of him and looked across at Fuyutsuki, a stern expression on his face.

"What about the backup generators?"

"Someone cut the fuses, tomorrow we will sweep the building and look for any sign of an intruder. It would seem this blackout was planned, whoever is responsible knew exactly what they were doing. Perhaps we should begin a search for the culprit?" The elder man suggested.

"Searching the building is unnecessary" Gendo answered "Whoever was responsible will have already gotten what they were looking for and will be gone by now."

"That might be so, but taking out an entire cities power to find one thing in this building. It's a bit extreme don't you think?"

"Some people will go to extreme lengths to get what they want, humanity is a strange creature professor."

"Perhaps you're right. I am concerned though, as it stands, we are completely defenseless and there is an Angel in Tokyo 3. If that was to get inside NERV it could jeopardize everything."

"The Angel has limited intelligence and is acting on instinct, the three Eva's are currently tracking it down and will exterminate it soon."

Fuyutsuki's eyes widened at the words, they sent a chill down his spine. He took a seat on one of the sides of the room and replied curtly.

"Extermination, sounds like something you'd do to an insect, not something that is human."

Gendo quickly replied almost as if he was correcting the old man.

"It was human, but the Angels are no longer human. Some may appear so, but they are so far beyond humanity, they are a new species. They are the joining of one species with another and bred for a specific purpose. They are living experiments whose time is running out. We, the creators, are the ones who hold the true power."

"Even so, they are still dangerous and some have knowledge of what we have done. If one was to get into NERV it could spell the end."

"That's why we have all three Eva's under our control." Ikari Said.

"But how long will they be under our control though?" Fuyutski questioned.

Gendo brought his hands down onto the table and smiled knowingly, "As long as we need them to be, I have instructed Rei of what to do if there are any problems with Unit One or Two. We are the ones with the control, do not let Keel's antics trouble you Fuyutsuki, his attempts to gain their trust will go unrewarded."

Fuyutsuki turned to look at the image of the tree of life on the floor, he had never really understood Gendo's fondness for the image, yet it had always been present since the time he worked at GEHIRN with him. There was a strange sort of arrogance to him as well, yet the words he spoke rang true, with the Evangelions within NERV there was hardly any risk. But still, he couldn't help but feel some concern for both Shinji and Asuka, knowing what was to come and what their true nature was.

'_It is for a better future though, isn't it?'_

**NERV Offices – 2045 hours**

Misato lay her head down on the desk, resting uncomfortably on the folders and looking into the flickering flame in front of her. She had always questioned why she felt a need to keep a few candles in her desk drawer and tonight seemed to provide the perfect answer to that question. Early reports from other people she had spoke to who were also working late seemed to suggest a complete power outage across the entire city and also other electronic devices seemed to stop working as well.

Her thoughts drifted to Shinji and the other two Agents with him and she began to worry slightly. It was perhaps paranoia on her part, but she couldn't help but feel this power outage wasn't an accident.

'_Come on Misato stop thinking like that, it's just one of those things. It's not like it's another Impact Incident'_

She raised her head and looked out at the darkened skyline and up at the stars above, it was an amazing sight, something she had never noticed before. Millions of stars all twinkling, slightly seeming to stretch out into infinity, it was a beauty she would never have noticed had it not been at the expense of the city wide blackout. A strange thought began to cross her mind as she looked out at the expanse.

'_What if Shinji's right, what if we aren't alone?'_

Smiling slightly she swept the thought away, she still didn't think it could be possible. As much as she supported Shinji and his work she was still skeptical, perhaps not to the same level as Asuka but she still needed some sort of proof. She sighed as she went back to her desk, just as she sat down, her office door began to open slightly. Watching quietly as a figure entered the room she stood up, ready to pounce on the person until she realized who it was.

"You idiot, haven't you ever heard of knocking before entering."

In the dim light she was sure she could see Kaji grinning slightly.

"Sorry, thought I'd surprise you."

"Well you did achieve that, how come you're working so late?"

"I had a meeting, and what about yourself?"

"I'm waiting for news from my Agents on this case they're working on." She paused for a moment and then continued, "Kaji, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can."

Misato stood up and looked out her window at the darkened city, the few candles inside the room illuminating the two of them both slightly.

"What is the Evangelion project?"

Kaji was actually glad the room was in full darkness, just so Misato could not see his reaction to the question. He moved over to the door making sure it was closed properly, before moving over towards Misato.

"I've never heard of it." he answered abruptly.

Misato knew he was feigning ignorance. She could tell the name was, on some level, at least familiar to him.

"Don't give me that, I know that you know more than you're letting on, Kaji."

"You're right, but what makes you think I know what you're talking about?"

"You knew who Shinji's father was," Misato said "You knew just the right time to leave the Over The Rainbow and you knew about those twins. I wouldn't be surprised if you knew about this one as well."

"You're playing a dangerous game Misato." Kaji warned. "There are powers who w..."

"Dangerous or not, I'm Shinji's direct superior and have a right to know if one of my agents is in danger."

"He's not in danger," The unshaven man assured her. "In fact, he along with Asuka and Rei are probably the safest of all of us when it comes to what they're against."

"So you _do_ know something?"

"That depends, how much do you know already?"

"I know that both Shinji and Asuka are part of something called Project Evangelion. I know that it has something do with things called Angels. I know Shinji's father is involved and I suspect NERV is involved somehow."

Kaji frowned, it was not the answer he had expected from her and severely limited his options on a response.

"I see. How did you come to know this?"

"Cut the crap Kaji, just tell me what I want to know or get out."

"If I tell you all of what I know they'll kill us both."

Misato turned her back on him and moved back over to the window, glancing out at the city.

"In that case get out." she growled.

Kaji swallowed a lump in his throat, the words slowly snaking their way up his throat.

"Genetically enhanced soldiers" he blurted out.

"What did you say?"

"The Angels, that's what they are. Genetically enhanced soldiers, bred for a specific purpose."

"What purpose?"

"That I don't know."

Misato knew he was being truthful about this at least.

"How is NERV involved?" she questioned.

"They supply the means to defeat the Angels."

"You mean the Evangelions don't you? That's Shinji, Asuka and Rei."

"Correct."

"Why though, why NERV and why those three?"

"Shinji was chosen because of his father and his father's link with GEHIRN. That's all I know…"

Misato quickly stopped him.

"GEHIRN, I thought they were dissolved fifteen years ago after their main laboratory was destroyed in old Tokyo. My own father was a scientist there, it was a medical research facility, what do they have to do with this and Shinji's father?"

"Shinji's father was an advisor there up until the impact incident, Shinji's mother worked there as well, up until she died a few years prior to impact."

"What does this have to do with the Angels?"

"GEHIRN are responsible for part of them, they were conducting research into human genetics and were being funded."

"Funded by who?"

"The same people who would kill me for telling you this information."

"Who are they?"

"I don't know, but they're powerful, they've been active for over twenty years. They have ties to government agencies all over the world, even NERV."

Misato looked on in shock, hoping somehow Kaji would be joking, she examined his face. He wasn't, the usual grin he wore had gone but was now replaced with a deadly serious expression. Their eyes met for a brief moment as they both stood in silence, Kaji turned his head towards the window and looked out across the darkness. He turned back to Misato and spoke softly.

"I should be going."

He opened the door quietly, leaving Misato to contemplate what she had just heard, before he was able to leave however he heard her calling him back.

"Kaji…when I hear back from Shinji do you want to go out for a few drinks?"

"Sounds good to me, where at?"

"I'll contact you, I know a few good places around here."

He nodded and left the room, Misato lay her head back down on the desk and spoke to herself.

"GEHIRN, The Impact Incident, my father…Am I…part of this too?"

**Abandoned Warehouse – 2115 hours**

"Agent Sohryu, where are you taking us?"

Shinji glanced up at the mesh fence in front of them and watched Asuka climb over it easily and land on the other side. He looked up at the building in front of him, it was an old warehouse, a short walk from their previous location. Around the windows on top he could make out the vague outlines of cobwebs. Immediately he began to climb the fence, slowly followed by Rei. As he got to the top he noticed that there were thin streams of light coming from inside the warehouse.

"It's in here." Shinji said.

Asuka nodded slightly, "Yes, I know."

"How did you know it was here?"

She turned to him and smiled knowingly, "I'm just that good, I guess."

Without giving him a chance to reply she began to make her way over to the warehouse to try to find an entrance. She got halfway across the tarmac area before a sudden pain stabbed at her head. She continued walking, trying to ignore it, but it still lingered. She turned around, trying to make sure she was out of view before bringing her hand up to her head. As she did so she felt something flash before her, she could see a strange distorted image in front of her.

The pain had subsided but was now replaced by another feeling, a strange floating sensation, almost as if she wasn't there. Looking around, she realized where she was. She was somehow inside the warehouse. It was a two tier warehouse with various size boxes scattered around, simply dumped by the previous owner. Steel staircases and ladders lead up to a platform going all around the warehouse and a set of offices towards the back.

Several huge white bags hung from various areas, Asuka could count about twelve of them in total before she spotted something moving towards the center of the floor. Her heart began pounding as the thing stood still for a few moments. It was a squat spider like creature, Asuka could see only traces of human within it as it was covered in a hideous black slimy skin. It was crouched on all fours, its head tilted slightly as it looked around the room, it's eyes were surrounded by thick orange liquid, beneath which appeared to be more smaller eyes.

The pain suddenly returned as the creature seemed to look directly at her, she felt a presence behind her and closed her eyes tightly, trying to will the pain away. She could hear the echoes of a voice floating around her, it got louder and clearer until she heard it from directly behind her. She felt Shinji's presence behind her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, asking if she was alright.

Blinking twice, she looked around and realized she was on her knees clutching her head, she felt herself going slightly red in embarrassment and quickly stood up, pushing Shinji away slightly. She snapped back, trying to assure them and herself she was fine.

"I'm fine, it was nothing. I was just checking something."

Her eyes met Rei's for a moment and she felt a wave of nausea sweep through her, she forced herself to swallow the sickness down and looked away from Rei.

"Lets go, it's in there."

She began to walk away but Shinji stopped her. "Wait…"

Impatiently, she turned around to face him, he was looking up at the warehouse window. She questioned him sharply, "What is it?"

"If that thing is in there, we can't just storm in and attack it, just in case it is what we suspect it to be. It's going to be fast, we know it has some form of acid within it, if all three of us just rush in we're going to get killed." he said.

"So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know yet, I'm thinking."

Irritated, she then turned to Rei,

"And what about you Wondergirl, surely you'll have something?"

"Agent Ikari is right, we do not know the layout of the warehouse which makes it slightly harder."

Asuka stopped to think for a few moments until she remembered what she had just seen previously. She pointed towards the back of the warehouse, speaking quietly to the other two Agents.

"It's a big open area, an upper area and a lower area, a series of offices towards the back of the upper area and several small rooms towards the back."

She turned to them both secretly hoping they wouldn't question how she knew, she wasn't even sure what had just happened herself. Shinji looked at her quizzically, he was about to ask how she knew but decided to wait until a better time, after all her hunch had paid off this far. Instead he questioned her about the entrance to the warehouse.

"That must mean there's another entrance towards the back, probably leading up to the upper levels as well."

"Probably, I didn't see that part."

Asuka immediately cursed herself after saying that last statement, she tried to see the reactions of the other two Agents. Rei appeared to either not hear the comment or was just ignoring it. Her eyes then met Shinji's, he didn't say anything but Asuka could tell he wanted too. The strangest thing was he was looking at her understandingly, almost as if he had seen the same thing or had had a similar experience. She decided it would probably be a good idea to change the subject quickly, before she made herself look even weirder.

'_Gott, if I keep this up I'm going to end up looking as weird as Shinji. I know what I saw, though even if they don't believe me I know I'm right.'_

Turning back towards the building, she withdrew her pistol and knelt down, checking for her torch. As she was doing this she was giving out instructions to the other two Agents.

"Ok I've got an idea Ikari, you and Ayanami go round the back and check for another entrance. Once you find it, enter through the backway. Be as quiet as possible. One of you try to find a way up onto the upper level and stay hidden and in position until I give the signal."

Rei turned to her replying quietly, seemingly scared at what they were about to face, "What if we encounter the being?"

"You won't, it'll be in the main area of the warehouse." She paused for a moment and then quickly tried to cover up her mistake, "In case you do though, unload everything you have into it."

"I see. What will the signal be?"

"Me firing a bullet into it, hopefully killing it. Once you hear that, attack it, we'll attack from three separate locations to try to confuse it."

Rei began to move off towards the back of the warehouse without waiting for Shinji, Asuka was about to start moving when Shinji stopped her.

"What will you be doing?"

"I'm heading in the front entrance."

He stepped back slightly, a shocked expression came over him, he stuttered out.

"You're entering the front way, but if it's there you'll be killed. It's too dangerous."

She snapped back at him, "I don't need you to tell me what's dangerous or if I'll be killed, I know it's risky but it's the only chance we have. Besides, do you think I'm that stupid I'll let some overgrown spider kill me?"

"N-No, but…" Shinji stuttered.

He couldn't think of anything else to say, instead he brought his hand up to her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

"Just…be careful."

She pulled his hand off her shoulder, still sounding quite angry at him, "I'll be fine, just go to where you need to be, Ayanami will be waiting. "

He nodded and began moving towards the back of the warehouse, leaving Asuka standing alone, looking up at the warehouse windows. Once she was sure he was out of ear shot she whispered to herself.

"Be careful Shinji."

**Medical Labs – 2115 hours**

Blood, that's what it looked like, what it smelt like and Ritsuko presumed it's what it tasted like. She sealed off the vial and placed it inside her case, next to the other vials inside. Each vial carefully labeled with only a set of initials, in the dim torchlight she checked each one was in place next to their respective initials, Vial One lined up with S.I, Vial Two lined up with A.L.S and vial three lined up with R.A. She shut the case and shuddered as the thought of what she was doing swept over her, she tried to force it out of her mind, reminding herself of why she was doing this.

'_It's for the greater good Ritsuko, it's not about what they will become but about what they can do for humanity.'_

She got up off her seat, adjusting her lab coat and taking hold of the case. Throughout the building she could hear the sound of the doctors and other scientists walking around and talking about the blackout. Slowly she began moving towards the door, trying to plot the quickest way out of the building so as to not attract any unwanted attention. She had little time to get to her destination and didn't want to be slowed down.

Just as Ritsuko was about to start making her way out of the room the door opened suddenly. She shone her torch only to see Misato standing at the entrance to the room, lowering the case, she smiled.

"Good evening Misato, you're the last person I expected to see here."

"Funnily enough you're the first person I expected to see here," Misato remarked. Although seems you're heading off somewhere. I wanted to know what you found regarding the body brought in the other day, the one with the shell."

"It's in my report, unfortunately it's on the computer over there." She pointed at the Magi system set up in the corner as she spoke. "So I can't really show it to you."

"That's fine, I just want to know the basics of what you found."

"Like what?"

"Was it human?"

"An unusual question. Yes it was human. _Was_ being the operative word, something had altered it to be like that. If you'll excuse me I have to go."

She stood up with the case but was stopped when Misato's cell phone started ringing. She looked at it in shock, having previously thought it had stopped working during the black out. She answered it but before she got a chance to speak Kaji's voice came across.

"_Katsuragi, all three Agents are in danger. There's an abandoned warehouse not too far from here you need to get there as soon as possible, if Ritsuko is with you take her too. Sorry I can't tell you more, it's important you get there as soon as possible though."_

**Abandoned Warehouse – 2125 hours**

Upper Area

Rei climbed up the ladder and entered the small office area, she switched on her torch and resisted the urge to scream out as she saw various cobwebs, each occupied by various spiders. She moved towards one of the doors and saw it covered in cobwebs and shuddered, she focused slightly and there was a brief flash of light as she used her A.T. Field to sweep them out of the way of the door. She entered the small office, only to find it empty, she reached into her jacket and readied her gun. At the front of the office was a small window, through it she could see the rest of the warehouse. Several small cobwebbed sacks hung from the ceiling.

She moved towards the door and again used her A.T. Field to sweep away the webbing and quietly opened the door, keeping crouched down so as to not attract any unwanted attention. Looking out over the main warehouse area, she saw the main door slightly open, towards the center was the creature, the angel Materiel. It stood crouched, ready to pounce, it's long spindly arms and legs taking up a vast area of the warehouse.

Rei felt a sickly feeling sweep over her as she watched it moving, breathing deeply, she moved towards one of the staircases and awaited Asuka to make her move.

Lower Area

Shinji watched Rei disappearing up the ladder and readied himself for the walk through the lower offices. Readying his pistol, he made his way over to the doorway and opened it slightly. It opened into a small office area, through the window he could see the main warehouse area. Asuka had been right, he couldn't understand how, but she was correct about the layout.

He crouched next to the window and looked out. Fear rose within him as he saw the creature sitting in the center of the room. Shinji focused his eyes directly on the doorway, waiting for Asuka to make her entrance. The creature lifted itself up and turned, Shinji saw for the first time exactly what it was. It was grotesque, it's arms and legs morphed into strange spider like limbs, split up, giving it the appearance of having eight.

It's head was covered in a dark black liquid, LCL trickled around where the monsters eyes would be, running over what appeared to be hundreds more tiny insect eyes. LCL dripped from several wounds within the creature and leaked out more tiny spiders. Shinji stood, transfixed on what it was. It rose on two of its legs and moved towards the door. He reacted immediately, if it stood near to the door it would kill Asuka as soon as she entered, he knew he had to do something. He quickly opened the door and fired a shot at the back of the beast.

Front Entrance

Asuka breathed deeply as she rounded the entrance to the warehouse, she opened the door slightly, taking a look inside. Just as she expected the creature was sitting in the center of the storage area, surrounded by white webbing. Beneath her she could see the smaller spiders running around aimlessly.

She pressed her back against the wall and waited for the right moment, from inside she could hear the sounds of the creature moving around. Her stomach knotted as she heard it edge nearer to the door. She readied herself to burst through the door and fire several shots directly into its face when the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the warehouse.

She cursed and quickly span back round, opening the door. A few more shots echoed out from above her. She looked up and saw Rei crouched by the staircase, firing wildly at the beast, her eyes wide with fear and hatred for the creature. Asuka ducked behind one of the empty boxes and fired at the beast, trying to make out what it was attacking.

She heard Shinji screaming out as she jumped out from behind the boxes and ran towards the creature, firing rapidly. Asuka watched Shinji as he dropped to his knees after being hit by one of the beast's limbs. Reloading, the beast now turned its focus on her, she approached it and fired, only to be knocked back hard by its fierce blow. It moved over towards her, the deathly stench of blood hovered over the woman, nearly making her sick.

LCL dripped off one of its limbs as it ran it across Asuka's body, she screamed out in pain as the LCL burnt onto her skin. It raised its limb and prepared to finish her off. More gunshots rang out, saving her. The creature focused its attention on the source of the shots, this time it was Rei. She stood with her gun pointed directly at the creature, a bright orange field in front of her. Slowly the spider began moving towards her, yet she stood fast, fearful but still firing.

The creature raised its limbs and attempted to punch it's way through the field, only to have its limb rebound off of it. Asuka slowly got to her feet and went over to check on Shinji, she turned him over and found him barely conscious, his jacket had been ripped apart from the creatures attack and he was bleeding heavily from his chest and where the LCL had dribbled onto him.

Anger boiled inside her as she turned to see the creature finally break through Rei's field and send her flying back into the warehouse walls. It spat LCL in Rei's direction, causing her to scream out. Asuka fired a shot at the beast, trying to attract it's attention, it turned towards her and began moving. She quickly ducked out of its way and reloaded her gun again. The beast however did not follow, instead it raised its arms and brought them crashing down on Shinji's chest. The young man screamed out in pain as LCL dripped into from his wounds.

Asuka felt herself stood frozen as she watched, everything around her seemed to slow down as something else took hold. She ran forward towards the creature firing again, it raised it's limb and tried to attack her only to be met with a similar field to what it encountered against Rei only twice as vast. It hit the field and recoiled in pain. It attempted to break through the field again, only to be met with the same resistance.

Asuka screamed out in rage as she dove directly into the creature, knocking it onto it's back, she stamped on one of its limbs sending LCL spraying everywhere, the pain from the boiling hot LCL only causing her to attack with more force. She found herself no longer firing but now using the butt of the gun to continuously hammer into the creature's skull.

Using one of its feet, it kicked itself free and Asuka felt herself flying backwards and landing with a thud on the ground. Swaying slightly, she got to her feet, seeing her own blood trickling to the floor. She span round, seeing the creature rolling around in pain and fired her remaining shots directly into it's skull, killing it. As it died it let out an almighty screech that echoed all around the warehouse, sending chills down her spine. Everything around her was a complete blur as she felt her way to the entrance.

Asuka dropped to her knees, looking directly at the dead creature, her clothes torn and covered in burning LCL. She breathed deeply as she felt her previous rage leaving her, behind her she could hear the voices of both Misato and Ritsuko, who had just arrived at the warehouse. Across from her she could see Rei regaining consciousness and getting to her feet. Slowly, Asuka began to get to her own feet, only to nearly fall backwards, she felt herself falling into something however, turning she looked directly into the face of Shinji.

His jacket torn and his white shirt covered in blood from where the creature wounded him, she watched him flinch slightly as he kept her on her feet. They stood there for a few moments, not exchanging any words. He carefully let go of her, allowing her to stand on her own for a while. She stepped away from him, for a moment their eyes never leaving each other, and then she moved back towards him, this time wrapping her arms around him and moving her lips closer to his.

He obliged and moved closer, their lips met as both of them closed their eyes each, entering their own world for a brief moment. Their tongues briefly met each other, as the kiss went on as they stood, oblivious to everyone around them. Eventually Asuka opened her eyes and moved away slowly as both hers and Shinji's eyes locked again.

Immediately she tore herself away from him and looked around, the other three were looking at them. Misato and Ritsuko in complete shock, Rei too appeared to be looking on, quite shocked at what happened. Asuka felt a torrent of emotions run through her, she opened her mouth to speak only to be met with nothing. Shinji spoke, but it registered as barely above a whisper to Asuka.

"Asuka I…"

She finally found her voice, and shouted back to him.

"Don't say anything, what the hell do you think you were doing."

She slapped him and pushed her way past him, running out of the warehouse, not sure of what she was doing or where she was anymore. Shinji looked on, shocked, not sure of whether or not to go after her. His question was answered for him when he felt Ritsuko and Misato behind him, Ritsuko spoke, but he couldn't focus on what she was saying, something about poison and an antidote. He felt a needle prick his arm as he faded into unconsciousness.


	15. Reflection

**A/N:** Just to clear things up before anyone asks, the first half of this chapter is being told from Misato's point of view. The scenes afterwards switch back to the traditional third person narration I've been using. The first half is mainly to be read as a report or as if Misato was narrating the chapter itself.

_3rd July 2015_

**Agent Misato Katsuragi – NERV Director of Operations**

What is humanity? How did we get here? Are we alone? Questions people have been asking for thousands of years. With each passing day they go unanswered and people ask them again and again. There are those that believe the answers already exist, that they're just being hidden from us, hidden behind the metaphorical walls of government and secret organizations. What if the answers to those questions were there though, what if these people are right and the answers were revealed? Would it do us any good or would it simply cause more harm than if we went on living in ignorance as we have been for countless years?

At the time of writing this I've been working for NERV for just over thirteen years. I signed up two years after the infamous 'Impact Incident' that destroyed old Tokyo. The incident in which I was the only survivor, the incident which killed my father, left me unable to bear children, the incident that went uninvestigated by the powers that be. It was also the incident that has prompted more conspiracy theories than any other since Roswell in nineteen forty seven. Who can blame people for suspecting something, all reports into it stated it was an explosion at the cities power plant. Eyewitness reports from areas around the city reported flashing lights in the sky, they said it was radiation the theorists said it was Aliens. The reports said it was a tragedy in which millions were killed, the theorists said it was mass abduction.

There are some theorists that claim they had contact with alien life before hand, that they or a family member was abducted and returned later or not at all, that the powers that be orchestrated it, that our own government hides the truth from us and that they want to reveal the truth. Reveal to the public that the governments of the world are lying, that there is a conspiracy and that humanity is being lead along by greater forces.

I know one of these people, I met him just over ten years ago now. He was a fourteen year old boy, alone. I was just twenty two at the time and had just been made an Agent in NERV. I was working on a case, a child abuse case, and we had just solved it and were in the orphanage and I saw him. He was sitting on his own, looking out the window up at the sky, a saddened look on his face as he listened to some sort of audio device. They told me his name was Shinji Ikari, he had just come in after his uncle who he was staying with had died. His mother had died early in his life and his father abandoned him two years later.

We exchanged glances for a brief moment and there was something about him, maybe it sounds sort of stupid but I felt a connection. Maybe it was because of my own upbringing, my mother divorced my father when I was little and my father had little time for me as I grew up, choosing to dedicate his life to his work. Maybe it was because I had learnt a few months prior of my inability to have children. I enquired about adopting him and because of my status as a NERV Agent, and the state of the country, everything was sorted out within a week. They were hectic times in Japan after the 'Impact', losing one of your major cities leaves a scar on a nation, one that takes time to heal from, and a scar that's still healing to this day.

He never spoke about his belief in aliens, hell he never spoke at all for the first few weeks. It was a struggle just to get him to say something at the dinner table and then there was the problem of actually keeping him in the apartment. Maybe I was a bit unfair in the way we divided the tasks, maybe I was unfair in the way I teased him but if he was having problems adjusting why didn't he just speak to me? It sounds like a big deal, maybe it is and maybe it isn't, he ran away three times within the first month. He didn't go far the first two times and I was able to find him within the hour. I couldn't understand it, my friend Ritsuko described it was something called the Hedgehogs dilemma, that the closer two people are the more pain they bring each other. She said it was probably how he saw it, that the closer he got to someone the more pain he brought them and himself. He was fourteen at the time yet had been through so much, who could blame him?

The third time he ran, that was the time I didn't find him. It was also the last time he ran. I was returning home from working late one night and found he wasn't there. I went out driving for about an hour. After having no luck I finally gave in and called the police, I had tried to avoid doing so the other two times but this time I had no choice. It was too risky to just wait and hope he'd return, if he wasn't found he could have died. I got the call a few hours into the morning, it didn't matter, I wasn't sleeping. Amazing isn't it? The effect this kid had on me even though I'd only known him for about a month?

So, anyway I got the call, he' d been found in the Tokyo 3 docks district, unconscious in some abandoned bus shelter. I got to the hospital as quick as I could and went straight to his room, my eyes were red from crying and I was sure there were still tears running down my face when I got there, I didn't care though, I was going to sort this out with Shinji once and for all.

**Thirteen Years Ago – Hospital Room – 0430 hours**

I had got to the hospital at half two in the morning, at first they wouldn't let me see him. I showed them my NERV ID and they soon let me in, maybe a bit wrong on my part but I had to, I needed to see him. They led me into the room he was in and left the room, I fixed my gaze on him. He was lucky they said, if they had been a few minutes later then his condition could have been a lot worse, as it was they just had him attached to a basic monitor and were letting him sleep it off.

I stood at the foot of the bed and heard a whimper from the boy, he turned violently and began thrashing slightly. I went round to his side and placed my hand on his head, hoping it would somehow calm him down. Much to my surprise it worked as he seemed to slip into a more peaceful sleep. I made sure the covers were on him fully and kissed him gently on the forehead and went over to the small table and chair in the corner, hoping to get some sleep myself.

I must have been asleep for two hours until I was woke up by, of all things, the sound of someone sneezing violently. I raised my head and looked around the room, hearing a slight thud as Shinji turned trying to pretend he was asleep. Did he really think I was that naïve not to know?

Slowly getting up I made my way over to him, I could see he had his eyes shut tightly. I pressed my hand against his forehead and spoke softly to him.

"Shinji…"

I could feel my voice breaking as I spoke, tears were stinging the back of my eyes but I refused to break down in front of the child. I had already cried a lot that night despite trying my best not to. I questioned him, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

"Shinji, why did you run away?"

I waited a short while only to have no response from him. I knew his game, he was hoping I'd simply leave him there and go home, leaving him until the morning. I wasn't going to fall for it, I moved to the bed and sat down on it, putting my arm over him.

"Shinji, why did you do it? Is it because of me?"

His eye's opened slightly and he answered, not daring to look at me.

"No, it's not that…"

"Then why?"

"I just didn't want you to abandon me."

I raised my eyebrows slightly when he said it, he was frightened of being abandoned? That was it, how could he have been so foolish to think I'd do that? I tried to keep my temper from flaring up and instead continued to speak softly.

"Shinji, why would I do that?"

"Because everyone else has, you'll be no different, it'd have been better if you just left me."

He was now sitting up, tears had formed in his eyes and were slowly moving down his cheeks. I was beyond crying though, I was trying to control my temper, trying and succeeding for now.

"I see…"

"Sorry…"

Succeeding up until now, I shouted back at him.

"Sorry? That's all you have to say, sorry isn't going to cut it Shinji. How can you say such a thing like that?"

"Because it's true, everyone abandons me."

I did something then I instantly regretted, he had pushed me to that point though. I felt a stinging sensation run up my hand as I slapped him. It didn't stop there, I shouted at him, unable to control myself anymore.

"You ungrateful idiot, you think that after I take you in and go through all that to adopt you, that after I spend half the night looking for you only to find you unconscious that I'm just going to abandon you?"

He brought his hand up to his cheek, the tears flowing freely on his face, I could feel them running down my cheeks as well.

"You're not the only person in the world to have something bad happen to them Shinji."

"I know that but… "

"But nothing, if you want to leave then do it now and we won't have to see each other again. I'll take you back to the agency tomorrow and say it didn't work out. If that's what you truly want then I'm not going to stop you, Shinji. Make up your mind now because next time I'm not coming after you."

Nothing was said for a few moments, he was thinking on my words. I wish I could have taken them back at that moment. I didn't want him to leave, I wanted him to stay, I wanted us to become a family, no matter how fucked up we both might be. I questioned him again.

"Well what is it going to be?"

Nothing was said, instead there was one simple gesture, he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. I hugged him tightly and whispered to him.

"I see, lets go home Shinji."

**Present Day**

From that moment on there were no more problems, we even got to know each other a little better. I told him my reasons for joining NERV even though I felt they betrayed me with the investigation into the Impact Incident. In turn he told me how he hated his father, how he grew up with his uncle looking after him and what he could remember of his mother's death. He described it as seeing a bright light, one minute she was there the next she was gone. Maybe this was what started his belief in alien life. I thought it was nothing more then a dream but he insisted it happened.

When he turned eighteen he received an invitation from NERV, I was assigned to another division and he stayed in Tokyo-3. We kept in touch at first, but after a few years it was short sporadic phone calls. He'd tell me how his job was, about the cases he was working on and I would tell him the same. The more we spoke on the phone or by e-mail the more I began to notice he seemed to be slipping into his old habits again. He was losing confidence in himself, his job and the people he worked with. I was never told this explicitly but I heard stories from others about him, that he was nothing more than a walking joke after a while.

Yet here I am now, writing this down, about to speak about the Angels he and Agent Sohryu have fought against. I could almost laugh at those who ridiculed him. Maybe Shinji was right after all, maybe they do exist and they have forms on Earth, or maybe something else is going on, maybe those old conspiracy theories about cloning are correct. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Kaji told me the Angels are genetically engineered humans, but genetically engineered with what? Shinji was told the Angels were part of a program to create super soldiers, but for what purpose?

Sachiel

Sachiel was the first 'Angel' on record, believed to have been active for over thirty years. He was responsible for a string of child murders or abductions. It seemed that he'd hibernate for fifteen years at a time before resurfacing. He was found in the lakes on the outskirts of Tokyo 3 by Shinji, Shinji said Sachiel came out of the lake, implying this 'Angel' had some sort of ability to survive underwater. This was also the first encounter between Shinji and Rei Ayanami.

According to Shinji's report he saw Ayanami and fell unconscious, awaking several hours later in some sort of medical facility. At this facility both he and Agent Sohryu were injected by what they were told was an antidote to a virus in the air around where Sachiel was found.

**Status: **Missing, presumed dead.

Shamshel

Shamshel was the second angel to be encountered, also the second sighting of Rei Ayanami. It also marked the first angel found after I took over as their director of operations. The case was assigned to them by the director, they were not given anymore information other than a name.

At the beginning of this case Shinji began suffering from symptoms of a yet unknown cause. Symptoms included headaches, dizziness and vomiting. At the first scene, Asuka found him unconscious in an alleyway where she also found Rei Ayanami. Ayanami then proceeded to attack Sohryu before fleeing the scene.

Both Sohryu and Shinji were able to track Shamshel to the same medical facility they were in during the Sachiel case. However this time the facility was abandoned with only Shamshel inside. Shinji encountered Shamshel and it is believed he killed him, however much like with Sachiel no body was found.

After Shinji was found he was taken to a hospital within Tokyo-3 where we encountered someone known as Gendo Rokubungi.

**Status: **Missing, presumed dead.

Ramiel

The third angel, also the first time we got to see Ayanami in action. The angel was taken out with a precision shot from a high powered sniper rifle lent to us by the weapons research department of the Japanese Government. Ramiel had the uncanny ability to aim and fire with the utmost accuracy. Being able to take out bullets in mid-flight and fire back immediately. It was thanks to the bravery of Rei Ayanami nearly sacrificing herself that this angel was defeated.

**Status: **Dead, shot by Agent Shinji Ikari

Gaghiel

Not much is known about this Angel, Asuka encountered it on the military ship 'Over The Rainbow' where it was masquerading as the Admiral. A fight broke out between Asuka and the Angel in a laboratory on the ship, me and Shinji arrived at the end to find Asuka had already defeated it.

Agent Kaji put in a report that prior to the discovery of Gaghiel Asuka seemed to be suffering from dizziness and headaches. The same symptoms Shinji had before Shamshel, is it possible the two situations are connected?

**Status: **Dead, shot by Agent Asuka Sohryu

Israfel

Also known as 'The Twins', this angel is probably one of the strangest we've encountered. About ten years ago twin girls were abducted from their home, several years later they returned but had not aged a single day. Shinji learnt of this Angel from Agent Kaji and set out to find it. At the time it was not revealed they were an angel.

He and Agent Sohryu arrived at the home of the Twins and their parents only to find that their house had been burnt down. They were attacked by an unknown man at the scene who promptly ran into the forest. In the forest they found another dead body, cause of death appeared to be Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, the man did however appear to have some sort of religious symbol on his body.

Shortly after discovering this they were led to Agent Ayanami's apartment to find the twins occupying it. When they encountered them they appeared to be of a young age, they had the ability however to shape shift to an older appearance and then into one being. When they were separate they were able to think and act of one mind, thanks to Agent Sohryu's fast thinking they were defeated.

**Status: Dead, killed by Agent's Shinji Ikari & Asuka Sohryu.**

Sandalphon

The subway killer, Sandalphon, was found hidden in a secret tank room deep in the Tokyo-3 subway system. This was the first Angel where the question of genetic alteration came up. It burst out of a tank attacking Sohryu and was seemingly incomplete. After being incapacitated it was brought back to NERV for an autopsy, which was performed by Dr Ritsuko Akagi. She found that the being was human but was covered in some sort of impregnable shell.

Luckily for us the shell had not yet developed and was still in a state of growth. My question is if they had got there later what would that mean for the rest of us?

**Status: Dead, killed by Agent's Shinji Ikari & Asuka Sohryu.**

Mattariel

The most recent Angel and probably the most bizarre yet encountered. This angel was like something out of a horror movie, a cross almost between a human and a spider. Several smaller spiders lived within the beast and also bred within the beasts victims. On the night the Angel was defeated Tokyo 3 also suffered from a complete city wide power outage, whether or not it was related to the Angel I don't know.

The angel was eventually found in a warehouse on the outskirts by all three Agents. Agent Sohryu eventually took it out but not before it injured her and also rendered both Shinji and Rei unconscious. Shortly afterwards both Rei and Shinji were given a shot by Ritsuko, she claimed it was an antidote to the spiders toxin. Asuka however did not receive this having fled the scene after an incident with Shinji.

**Status: Dead, killed by Agent Asuka Sohryu.**

As I finish writing the section on the last Angel I think about how each one has played out so far. How near to death Shinji, Asuka or Rei have came each time. How they are part of something called Project Evangelion, my only question is without these so called Evangelions what does it mean for the rest of us?

**Meeting Room**

Intimidation, it is a key factor in their line of work. To get what they wanted they needed to be able to intimidate the other person. Gendo Ikari knew this all too well and many would consider him to be a master in that dark art. He sat at the foot of the table looking directly ahead, his hands folded neatly in front of his face, slightly obscuring his mouth. His face portrayed no emotion, of course attempting to intimidate the committee was a futile process, and he knew that all too well.

The man at the other end of the table, Chairman Keel, began to speak. "Seven of the thirteen angels have been defeated, you surprise us Ikari. We did not expect your chosen subjects to be so efficient."

Gendo smiled slightly from behind his hands and replied, "Of course, the Evangelion serum developed years ago by Dr Sohryu and my wife at GEHIRN was developed to combat the angels, regardless of who the subject was."

One of the other men in the room spoke with an American accent, "Nonetheless we must not become complacent, there are still several angels remaining. The first seven were minor experiments, the rest were created to the full extent of our resources."

"I am aware of this, this is why we have given both Unit 0 and 1 a higher dosage of the serum."

One of the other men spoke out in surprise, "What of Unit 2?"

"She had left the scene before the dosage could be administered. It is unimportant however, she is an expendable factor."

"Yet it was her mother that was responsible for the serum."

"I am aware of this."

Keel interrupted the brief exchange, "Enough of this gentleman, we have more important matters to discuss. This is that of the human instrumentality project, we now have the full go ahead to complete the project. We have made contact with the others and they will be sending nine of their people to us by the end of the year."

"Understood."

"Good, that is all. We will be contacting you again in the future when we are closer to our goal."

**Asuka's Residence**

Asuka lay on her bed looking straight up at the ceiling, her bandaged arm resting against her forehead. She sat up and slowly got out of bed, feeling slight pain with each minor movement. She stood and moved towards the mirror looking at her naked body, observing the several scars covering most of her mid section and arms.

Downstairs she heard the front door closing, moving over towards the window she saw Rei walking down the path going to NERV. Asuka sighed and sat back down on the bed. It had been three weeks since Mattariel, three weeks since she had kissed him and three weeks since she had ran away from him. Every day of those three weeks she had asked herself why she had done it and she could never think of an answer.

She couldn't even think why she had kissed him. Prior to that she hadn't thought of him as anything but a work colleague and, if she was being honest, a bit of an idiot. Although she had to admit to herself that after all that had happened maybe his ideas and beliefs weren't so strange after all. That was still no reason to do what she did though and then she had ran away. Was it fear?

'_Fear of him? Why would I be scared, no he…it wasn't…damnit I'm going to look like a fool now and it's all stupid Shinji's fault._

Asuka looked across the room towards her bedside table. On it lay her NERV ID, she picked it up and looked at the picture of her on the front, remembering how she came to join NERV and all that had happened since she had been assigned to Tokyo 3. It had been a perfect opportunity for her, she even had the attention of the director now, she wasn't going to let it go to waste.

'_I'm going back, after all if I don't they'll be lost without me.'_

After a short while she had changed into her suit and was standing in front of the mirror admiring herself, a smile on her face. She brought her bandaged hand up to her face and looked at it slightly before beginning to unravel the bandages, flinching as with each movement pain shot up her arm.

She got downstairs, in the living room the makeshift bed she had gave Ayanami was made. Rei however had seemed to leave her jacket behind, Asuka picked it up and something caught her eye in the inside pocket. She took it out and realized it was a photograph, turning it over and looked at it and immediately dropped it to the floor looking at it in shock.

"That's her and Shinji's father, just who the hell is Rei Ayanami?"

**A/N: **One of my shortest chapters I know, it was intended to be, my main intention was to focus a bit more on Shinji & Misato's relationship and how they came to meet. Second intention was to set up for Leliel. I'll be going back to normal length chapters with Leliel, just think of this as a short bridge. That said though this was probably one of my favorite chapters to write.


	16. Apprehension

_7th July 2015_

**NERV Offices – 0915 hours**

Shinji stopped just as his hand reached the door handle and sighed, he wanted to just turn around and go back home. Not a day had passed since Metareal that he hadn't thought of what had happened, it was always there in the front of his mind, playing over and over again and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get it away.

He subconsciously brought his hand up to his face where Asuka had slapped him. It had been nearly a month now since it had happened yet he could still feel the sting. He had been told by Misato that he wasn't to blame for it, that it wasn't his fault, but still he wondered, '_Why did she blame me?'_

He opened the door and stepped into the office where he was surprised to see Asuka was already sitting at her desk writing something. Shinji uttered a subdued greeting and moved to his desk. That's how it had been since she had returned to work. They would greet each other then sit down and do nothing but NERV Paperwork. There were no cases to work on, no words other than the essentials exchanged. Every so often Asuka would leave the office and return a few hours later carrying various assorted files. Shinji never asked what they were or where she went, he just came in did whatever he needed to do and went home.

Today however started off a little bit differently, this time as soon as Shinji sat down he noticed Asuka looking at him. Holding a document up as she spoke.

"This just came in, thought we should look at it."

Asuka waited for Shinji to get up and take the document, again there were no words exchanged instead, just an uncomfortable silence as Shinji read through the document and Asuka waited for him to hand it back. She wished she could somehow erase what had happened, maybe then she wouldn't feel like an idiot every time he or Katsuragi was nearby. Maybe she'd be able to rid herself of that awful feeling of guilt.

Moments later he handed the document back to her questioning her, his voice unenthusiastic.

"Have we been assigned this case?"

Surprised for a moment, she took a few moments to answer back. Shinji never usually questioned a case.

"No not yet but I thou…"

He cut her off, "Then we should just leave it."

She frowned as he sat back down at his desk, that feeling of guilt creeping back into her consciousness. Mentally she shouted at herself for feeling guilty.

'_No, it's not my fault the idiot is being like this, it's something else. It was three weeks ago, he won't be angry at me.'_

Smiling, she replied, "Since when has that stopped you before?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know fine well what I mean, since when has us not being assigned the case stopped you before. Half of the cases we've been on down here haven't been assigned to us, why is this one different?"

"It's just…I don't think we should get involved with anything that we haven't been told to go on anymore."

Asuka was trying very hard not to get angry with him, she sighed and turned to her computer screen and then back to him. For a brief moment their eyes met and Asuka immediately glanced down at her desk.

'_Why is he being so stubborn, this can't be because of what happened and if it is then why can't he just ask about it instead of being like this?'_

"I don't see why, wasn't that the whole point of our section? To work on the cases no one else wanted to."

"I know but..."

She quickly cut him off before he could argue back, she wasn't going to tell him why she wanted to work on this, instead she tried for a different approach.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better I can get clearance from Katsuragi just because you seem to have this sudden affinity for the rules or we can stop wasting our time and take a look at this now."

Shinji thought for a moment, being honest he hadn't even looked at the file Asuka had handed to him, he was too busy trying to think of something to say to her. He gave in and stood up.

"You're right, sorry."

"Of course I'm right. I wouldn't be me if I wasn't right."

"Well you were wrong about what you thought that last Angel was going to be."

As soon as the words left his mouth Shinji pictured himself holding a shovel and standing in a very large hole, an obsidian black grave marker above it, etched with the letters IKARI SHINJI 1987-2015….His idea of a joke comment only caused them both to return to that uncomfortable silence. After a short moment Asuka spoke quietly, smiling slightly.

"Ok, I was wrong on that one but even people like me have to be wrong at least once, right?"

He laughed as he replied, "Yeah, so what are the details of this?"

"You just read the file and forgot already?"

"Sorry."

"Never mind, a few days ago a man was the victim of an attack, he suffered no physical injuries and has no memory of what happened."

"Could he have been drunk and passed out?"

"That's what the doctors and people involved so far thought but there was no alcohol in his system or anything else that could have caused it. Everyone involved has no idea as to what happened."

Mentally she finished her sentence, _'And then of course there was the LCL he was found near.'_

"So that's where we come in?"

'_We already have, that's where I've been the past few days'_

She didn't say what she was thinking instead just nodded, "Yes."

"You think it could be another angel?"

The voice inside her head replied yet again. _'It is.'_

"I don't know yet."

**Hospital – 1000 hours**

They both stepped onto the ward, Shinji looked up at the signs, noticing where they were. The psychiatric ward. Shinji began to wonder if there was more to this than what Asuka had told him. He was about to question it when a nurse came out of one of the rooms and stopped them both.

"Agent Sohryu, you're back, and who's this with you?"

Asuka cursed silently as the nurse asked her question, she quickly caught a glimpse of Shinji, he was looking at her she tried to avoid his gaze.

"This is the guy I work with, Agent Ikari."

The nurse turned to look at Shinji. "Oh so you're with NERV as well?"

He nodded but was cut off by Asuka. "We're here to visit Mr. Ushiyama."

"Of course, he's in the same room as before, I'm sorry to tell you his condition hasn't improved. If anything he's gotten worse. Poor thing, he can't even recognize his own family now."

"I see, well we'll go have a look, thank you."

The nurse nodded and continued down the hall way, Shinji stood still looking at Asuka, not sure of what to think. She had already been here and hadn't told him, he was about to ask her what she knew when she beat him to it.

"Look before you even say anything, there's a reason I didn't tell you. I wanted to make sure of something."

Shinji wanted to say something back but couldn't bring himself to say anything. Instead he just let it slip by and nodded.

"It's fine."

"Good, then let's go."

As they walked towards the room Shinji stayed silent, his mind trying to find a reason for Asuka not telling him about this. For some reason the fact hurt him, yet at the same time he felt that maybe he was to blame. After all he had gone behind Asuka and Misato's back in the past because of something he was chasing up.

They came to a stop outside one of the doors and made their way inside, the room itself being a standard hospital room. There was a TV set up on a table in the corner, around it were various get well cards from what Shinji assumed was the persons family. Shinji turned around and took a look at the person they were there to see. He was a man in his mid thirties, he was sitting up in bed staring directly at the TV, not blinking, not moving and not paying any attention to the two agents that had entered the room. There was a far away look in his eyes.

'_Like black holes in the sky.' _Shinji thought to himself.

There was something else there, Shinji noticed it in his right hand but couldn't see it properly, and Asuka seemed to be transfixed by it as well. Shinji then noticed she had turned slightly pale since they had entered the room.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." She began to move towards the man, her heart began to beat more rapidly. She took a deep breath and spoke quietly to the man. "Mr Ushiyama it's Agent Sohryu again. I brought Agent Ikari with me. He's the one I told you about the other day, the one I work with."

Ushiyama turned his head to look at Shinji, as he did so Shinji felt a chill run down his spine. The look in the mans eyes was not normal, it was as if he was looking at Shinji yet at the same time staring right through him, as if he was staring right into Shinji's soul. Shinji stepped forward slightly as Asuka continued talking to the man.

"We'd just like to ask a few questions, if that's alright with you?"

Ushiyama nodded and spoke his voice quiet and distant.

"Go ahead."

Shinji stepped forward, not really to sure of what to ask the man or what Asuka had already asked him.

"Mr Ushiyama, can you remember anything about the attack?"

Ushiyama turned to Shinji and smiled.

"Attack? You're mistaken Shinji. It was no attack, it was an awakening."

"A...An awakening?" The agent stuttered.

"Yes, I saw it, for the first time I saw reality, and then I was pulled away from it."

Asuka looked on, this being the first time she had heard the man speak more then a few words. Her attention turned once again to the thing in his hand, she noticed it was a small sheet of paper with something scribbled on it.

"What do you mean, the first time you saw reality?"

"This isn't real, it's an illusion created by them, they only want you to think it's real but it's not. I've seen the real world and it's not like this."

Shinji frowned, Ushiyama's words not making any sense to him. He tried to get more information from him. "Who wants us to think this is real?"

Ushiyama spoke again, not answering Shinji's question but sounding more frantic with each word. "Leliel doesn't want us to see the true reality. Leliel is the master of illusion. Leliel controls us all."

"What is the true reality?"

Ushiyama nodded towards Asuka, "This is her reality."

The room fell into silence as both Asuka and Shinji looked at each other, Asuka with a look of confusion on her face, Shinji looking just as bewildered, if not more. Slowly Ushiyama began to place the paper into Shinji's hand, Shinji however did not unfold it but instead handed it to Asuka. She unfolded it and stood transfixed on the image, she felt a sick feeling rush to her stomach and to the back of her mouth.

"What…what is this?"

She dropped the paper and ran out of the room, her hand clamped over her mouth as she struggled not to be sick. Shinji stood up to go after her, only for her to go into the female toilets on the ward. He returned to Ushiyama's room and noticed the man had fallen asleep, slowly he picked up the sheet of paper and looked at the image on it. The image appeared to be that of a doll handing from the ceiling of a hospital room similar to the one Shinji was standing in now.

Shinji stepped out into the corridor to wait for Asuka to return, he was about to step out of the ward when his phone began to ring. Taking a look at the number, it was one he didn't recognise.

"Hello?"

The voice came over the headset, it was that of an old man. Shinji recognised it immediately.

"_Agent Ikari, do you remember me?"_

He spoke quietly into the phone. "Spender."

"_That's correct, are you alone?"_

Shinji looked along the corridor and into the room, Asuka hadn't returned yet and Ushiyama was still asleep. He was the only one in the area, he confirmed this with Spender.

"Yes I am."

"_Good, now listen carefully. The person you are after, Leliel, is an angel. A very dangerous one as you might already know after seeing the condition of his victim. I can help you, I know his location."_

Shinji paused for a moment, thinking about what he had just been told, Spender knew about the case and the victim. "What do I need to do?"

"_Nothing, just give me your word you will show no restraint when dealing with Leliel."_

"N-No restraint?"

"_That's right, my organization has classified Leliel as extremely dangerous, you must make sure he is killed or you risk hundreds more victims like the one you have just visited."_

"I…I understand."

"_Good, I will contact you later tonight with the details you require to find him. Make sure both you and Agent Sohryu are well prepared, you can not afford to take any risks with this Angel."_

"Hold on a minute, me and Agent Sohryu?"

"_Yes, she already knows part of the Angel's power, she was the one who found the LCL."_

"You mean she already knew it was an Angel?"

"_Yes, did she not tell you?"_

"No, she never said a thing."

"_I see, that's too bad then."_

With those words the phone line went dead. Shinji stood still with the phone in his hand, staring at the screen. He then looked up slowly to where Asuka had gone into and frowned. She knew about it and never told him, she had known all along that it was an Angel and had not bothered to say a word. An idea began to form in his mind, he looked towards the end of the corridor and smiled slightly.

**Laboratory – 1615 hours**

"What's her status?"

Ritsuko looked out from behind the computer and into the tank, her glasses reflecting the dim orange emanating from the tank. She began to read off the results from her screen.

**  
**"Vital signs are showing normal, body is showing no signs of rejecting the increased concentration in the serum. Core is also stable, no problems to report."

"Good and what about the dummy plug system."

"The dummy plug system is not yet ready, we should be ready to test soon."

"How long?"

"Magi reports at least a week until we can even prepare to upload any of the Agents core into it, at least two weeks before we can start on creating a replicate based on the uploaded data."

"Have it ready as soon as possible, we will need a replacement on standby should anything happen to one of the Evas."

"Understood."

Gendo turned and looked into the tank and smiled slightly, from inside the tank Rei looked up and smiled back. He spoke softly to her, a vast contrast from how he would usually sound when talking to people. It was almost like the way someone would talk to their young child.

"Rei, we are finished here, you can come out now."

"Yes."

The LCL began to drain out of the tank as the back of it opened, Rei stepped out, her wet skin glistening in the harsh laboratory lights, and put on the clothes folded beside the tank. She just finished putting on her jacket when Gendo came beside her.

"Rei, I want you to rejoin Agent Ikari and Sohryu as soon as possible. Just like we talked about, if any problems should arise you know what you need to do."

Rei lowered her eyes slightly, thinking about what he had just said. A wave of sadness washed over her as she uttered her next words.

"Yes sir."

**Stooges Residence – 2230 hours**

Shinji almost wished he hadn't asked, the initial reaction struck more apprehension into him than any Angel probably could have done. Touji's reaction wasn't what scared him, Touji was perfectly calm and normal, well as normal as Touji could be. Instead what scared him was Kensuke's reaction, Kensuke had always been the geekier of the two. Touji could have his moments but he was always more of a jock growing up, it wasn't until later on in his teens that he turned his attention to computers. Kensuke had grown up that way. A self proclaimed military otaku and geek, Kensuke made it his sole goal to uncover the government conspiracy. What this conspiracy was even Shinji didn't know but it certainly wasn't related to Shinji's belief that the government was hiding the truth about alien life. Kensuke seemed overly keen to help Shinji with his work for the government, and taking down a security system did more than encourage his enthusiasm.

Nonetheless they were both very talented and if Shinji wanted to get past the security system Spender had told him about, he was going to need their help. All three of them sat for a brief moment in silence, Touji looking at him, a serious expression on his face, Kensuke however was grinning. Shinji began to tell them the details of what was happening.

"Ok, tomorrow meet me at Misato's apartment at half nine in the morning. Bring whatever equipment you think you'll need."

"Will Agent Sohryu be meeting us there?"

Shinji stopped for a moment, he still hadn't told Sohryu about it, something inside him told him he should but he wanted to take the credit for this one. He knew it was childish on his part but he wanted some measure of payback for her not telling him about the Angel in the first place.

"No, she's working on something else at the moment, that's why I need your help. I can't get in there alone."

"Right, so what do you know about this place?" Kensuke questioned

"It's a mansion outside of town, fairly isolated, very well protected."

"Do we know anything about the security systems?"

"CCTV, Electric fencing, alarm systems. The usual, probably all rigged up to give our suspect adequate time to detect and get away from us."

"So you want us to deactivate the security, then what?" Kensuke said.

"Then you stay and monitor me from afar, there's a small clearing giving you a good view of the house. I want you to hook me up with a small camera, if anything happens return to NERV and tell Misato immediately. Whatever you do, make sure you do not follow me in."

Kensuke looked almost dejected at being told not to follow Shinji in, he immediately noticed this.

"It's for your own good, this person is extremely dangerous. I'll be armed when I go in, you two won't be if you follow me."

"I understand, some people get all the fun."

Shinji lowered his eyes and mumbled slightly, "Believe me there's nothing fun about what I do."

"That's what you always say, you get to run your own area though and you work with hot chicks like Misato and Sohryu."

Shinji stopped to correct him, "I don't run my own area, Misato is my superior, if anything she runs it and it's not so much our own area, it's just that me and Sohryu tend to be able to pick our own cases as we deal with the paranormal and extraterrestrial."

"Which is what you wanted right?"

"I guess so…"

Kensuke continued talking, sounding slightly annoyed at his friends' lack of enthusiasm.

"Then what are you moaning about, don't you realize just how lucky you are. Just think if in one of your cases you finally find the answers not only you, but people like you and I, have been looking for. The proof that we need, doesn't that excite you a little bit?"

"I guess, I just never really thought of it like that."

Touji cut in before Kensuke could go off anymore, "Kensuke stop, besides which I didn't think you liked NERV anyway?"

"Well I… never mind."

They all laughed and then went back to what they had to do the next day. Touji turned to Shinji and spoke. "We can do this, but do you really think its wise going in alone. Shouldn't you at least call for the red devils help?"

"The red devil?"

Kensuke happily chimed in, "That's his name for Sohryu."

"I see, no like I said she's busy on something else at the moment. I'll be fine, just as long as you two disable the security."

"Its fine, don't worry about it, we'll get the job done."

_8th July 2015_

**Misato's Apartment - 0930**

'_Almost time' _he thought to himself, he looked out across the city towards the outskirts where the mansion was located. Shinji was seriously considering not going through with it, what if Spender was wrong or what if he couldn't take Leliel out? All the other Angels he had someone with him to act as back up, either Asuka or Rei, this time he was acting alone. Sure he had Kensuke and Touji but if anything happened they wouldn't be able to do anything.

Kensuke and Touji however were not having second thoughts about it, in fact they, or mostly Kensuke, were looking forward to the whole thing. They were setting up various pieces of equipment in the corner, Kensuke was stood over a laptop, Touji working with some sort of electronic device. Kensuke reached into a small case and pulled out a tiny camera calling over to Shinji.

"Shinji over here, I want to test something."

Shinji nodded and walked over to where Kensuke was standing, Kensuke placed the small camera on Shinji's jacket telling him about how it works.

"Okay we have only tested this with a range of about twelve metres or so, so we don't know how well it'll work once you're inside the house. Also, with all the security we're expecting a lot of electrical interference blocking the cameras feed." He stopped speaking for a moment as he pulled a small headset from the case, "We also have this, a headset to keep in audio contact with you. I know you didn't ask for it but if we lose the camera feed its better than nothing."

Shinji nodded, taking the headset from him and putting it round his ear.

"I understand."

There was a slight sound of static over the headset and Kensuke spoke again, "Okay I've switched it on, can you hear me Shinji?"

Shinji shot his friend a glance and had to restrain himself from asking if he was stupid.

"Kensuke I'm in the same room as you, if you wanted to test it don't you think you should have asked me to go into another room first?"

"Err yeah, never mind."

"Do you want me to go into another room?"

"No it's fine, it picked up communication between the computer and the headset anyway. I'm all done, how about you Touji."

Touji nodded and looked towards Shinji, waiting for him to give them the go ahead to begin taking everything to the car.

"Okay, we'll start taking this stuff down now."

Both stooges nodded and began to place the machines back into the cases, in a matter of minutes they had everything packed away and were out of the flat, leaving Shinji to think about what could happen.

'_I guess this is it then, time to get this done.'_

He began to leave just as the phone began to ring, he contemplated picking it up but instead just left it and carried on towards the front door. Shinji stopped as the phone switched over to the answering machine, he held the door open for a brief moment trying to hear the other person. The pre-recorded message finished and immediately Asuka's voice came over, as soon as he heard her voice he turned and closed the door, unaware though that he was not there she continued speaking.

"_Shinji, it's Sohryu I don't know if you're still there. I just spoke with Katsuragi and she said you're at her home and will be in slightly late. Kaji contacted me and gave me a location for Leliel but he said we can't approach him, he didn't say why but he said it'll only cause more problems if one of us gets near him."_

**House – 1012 hours**

Shinji looked up at the house, it was larger than he imagined it was going to be, if he had to guess there must have been over fifteen rooms in there and he had to search through each and every one of them. He stepped out of the car and attached the small camera to his jacket. Beside him Touji was unravelling a set of cables and speaking to Shinji.

"So this suspect of yours is in there?"

"Yes."

"Huge place for just one guy."

Shinji nodded, not really taking any notice of his friend's words. He watched both of them silently as they set up their equipment. Shinji was amazed at how quick they were able to set it all up. So many pieces of equipment there and they were able to connect it all together and set it up in only a matter of minutes.

"We're all set up here, it's up to you now Shinji."

"Right, what about the security systems?"

"Nothing tasking, it's split up into several quadrants around the house. Mostly just CCTV systems though, the gate is also hooked up to the camera system so we'll need to deactivate the security on that as well."

"How long should that take?"

Kensuke grinned from behind his screen, "Are you kidding? It's done, it was no problem at all. Bang, straight in and then it was deactivated."

Something was wrong, Shinji felt it immediately. It shouldn't have been that easy. A sickening sense of apprehension crept into his as he made sure what Kensuke had said was correct.

"Are you sure it's deactivated?" he asked "I didn't think it would be that easy?"

Touji chimed in quickly, not giving Kensuke a chance to double check. "I think you're underestimating us there Shinji, you've got nothing to worry about. It's down."

Shinji nodded, still not entirely confident but it was too late for him to turn back now.

"If something happens, remember don't follow me in, go back to NERV instead."

"What should we say if something does happen?"

"If you see Katsuragi tell her exactly what happened, and if you see Sohryu…tell her I'm sorry."

"What do you mean sorry?"

It was too late. Shinji was already out of view. They could have asked him again over the microphone but instead decided to save that for more important issues. Both of them looked on the screen as they watched Shinji making his way up to the mansion gate. Just as they expected, it opened with no hassle allowing him inside.

Shinji quickly ran up towards the front entrance of the house and looked around, making sure there was nothing else there. Kensuke and Touji watched him on the screen as he slowly opened the door and made his way into the house. He entered a corridor and began moving slowly, they could see he had his gun drawn and aimed directly ahead.

Shinji stopped moving, for a brief moment they saw two other people on screen. The first an old man with grey hair, like anybody's Grandfather, but the second of the two could not be seen as he wore some sort of strange device over his face. That was where the feed stopped, Shinji began to speak but the audio link cut off as well. Both Kensuke and Touji looked at each other frantically, shouting out loudly.

"What's going on?"

Touji quickly replied, "I don't know, we've lost the feed"

**House Interior**

Shinji entered the house, his heart pounding, beneath his jacket he grasped his pistol ready for whatever might be round the next corner. From above there was the hum of machinery, he withdrew the pistol and began moving forwards. He turned the corner into another corridor, noticing that there were no doors leading to anywhere else, just a long corridor extending off into the darkness.

He moved forward a few paces into the darkness, with each step he took it got significantly darker. His steps echoed all around him almost as if he had walking on a metal surface, still focused he continued walking. There was no way he could have turned back now, he reached into his jacket trying to find his pocket torch, cursing as it fell to the floor. Shinji kneeled down and felt the floor, it was metal he felt around for the torch, he froze as he felt a sudden presence directly ahead of him. The shadow of two figures loomed over him.

He aimed his gun at the one closest to him but lowered it upon seeing who it was, "You?"

Spender looked back at Shinji, a twisted smile on his face. In one of his hands was a cigarette, he took a drag and exhaled. Shinji stared directly into his eyes, wanting to shoot, but frozen in place only able to blink and speak. He turned from Spender to the other figure, the other person was slightly larger than Spender and was wearing a strange device over his face. Shinji could only assume this person was Leliel.

He stepped forward and began injecting something into Shinji's neck, a strange numbing sensation began to spread from Shinji's neck throughout the rest of his body. Shinji continued staring straight on at Spender as he slumped his knees, his body completely frozen.

Spender had led him here, told him to come here only to lead him into this trap. He managed to stutter out. "You…you lied to me."

"No Ikari I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you the whole truth."

**House Exterior**

Touji finished speaking and there was a loud roar from directly above them, everything around them faded to black as a light began to erupt from the house and directly above them. They both shielded their eyes and looked up, both looking on in shock, from behind them they thought they could hear the screeching of tires but they were transfixed on the moving craft above them. It was a giant metallic structure, spotlights scanning the area and what appeared to be huge doorways opening. Both of them tried to peer into the openings, seeing nothing but a bright light. It was almost spherical in shape, but covered most of the area they were in, causing complete darkness to all areas not lit up by the spotlights, as it moved there were huge roars like thunder.

Kensuke shouted fearfully, "That's…. They're…."

"What is this?"

There was a huge flash, blinding them both, and everything had gone, the craft, the light, everything. It was only them and the house in front of them; their equipment working once again, the visual feed showing the corridor Shinji had been in, the audio link feeding them only static.

"Is he…?"

"I don't know, should we go in?"

"He said not to follow him though."

"We can't just leave him Touji, he's our friend and besides we need to be sure."

A shadow appeared over them both, they turned and found themselves looking directly at Asuka. She was staring straight ahead at the house and then down to the two of them, she spoke calmly.

"Did he go in?"

They nodded unable to say anything.

"I'm going inside." She said simply

Both of them tried to make a move to stop her, she quickly moved past them though and went towards the house. They quickly got up and followed her, entering the house alongside her. They entered the first corridor in silence when they turned into the corridor Shinji had been in. Asuka turned to them both and questioned them.

"Is there where he last was?"

They nodded again, Kensuke however stepped forward and picked up the camera and headset examining them.

"They've been completely burnt out, both devices."

Asuka looked down at him, "What by?"

"I don't know, probably that thing that just flew over the mansion."

"What thing?"

"The huge…whatever it was that just hovered above us causing that light. Didn't you see it?"

Asuka paused for a moment, she had seen it but she didn't want to believe she had just seen it.

'_Yes I saw it, and it took Shinji.'_

"I don't know what I just saw, whatever happened Shinji isn't here anymore, we should leave."

Kensuke looked at the devices and then to Asuka, he was no expert on people but he could tell she wanted to be alone for a few moments. "We'll take quick look in some of the other rooms first."

She exited the house first, the realization hitting her like a tonne of bricks, he was gone, he had vanished, taken by whatever was in there. She looked up at the house desperately, almost expecting the structure to give her an answer as to what had happened. A burning sensation began to stir from the pit of her stomach up to the backs of her eyes, she blinked several times trying to keep her composure. Silently she stood for a few moments before clenching her fist tightly and driving it straight through the first window she saw. For a moment she felt nothing only anger, she lifted her hand up to her face watching the blood begin to trickle down. She brought her hand back again and this time slapped her palm against the wall.

"You goddamn idiot Shinji." Asuka screamed

She felt a presence behind her and turned only to find herself face to face with Shinji's friends. She spat out at them, "What do you want?"

They were still in a slight state of shock after learning Shinji had been taken, Kensuke managed to stammer out, "W-We were just wondering if you were alright."

"I'm fine, it's that idiot you should be worried about."

"So what do we do now?"

She didn't know, something inside her made her want to go back inside the house to keep searching until they found anything from the craft to Shinji himself, the other more dominant part only tried to bury that feeling.

"We go back to NERV and tell Katsuragi about how her precious Shinji tried to play the hero only to get himself captured. I don't care anymore, he got what he deserved."

**NERV Offices**

Misato looked up from her desk in surprise and anger, not only had Agent Sohryu just made her way into the office but she had brought two unauthorised people into the office with her, interrupting a conversation between her and Kaji. She glared at the three of them, immediately questioning their presence.

"What is the meaning of this? Sohryu what are you doing bringing two unauthorised civilians in here?"

Asuka stepped forward and began to explain, "They're Shinji's friends."

"I know who they are but what are they doing here and where is Shinji?"

"H...He's gone, he entered the house and something happened, we searched the area but there was no sign of him."

The anger dropped from Misato's face only to be replaced by pure shock.

"W..What do you mean?"

"He went after Leliel alone…something happened, I don't know what, but he's gone."

Kaji stepped forward putting his arm around Misato and looking at the three of them, his face deadly serious.

"He went after Leliel alone?"

"Yes."

"This isn't good, you two come with me. Asuka stay here with Katsuragi and tell her what happened. We need to find him."

"Right."

Kaji exited the room, Kensuke and Touji following behind him. Misato stood up teary eyed and made her way round her desk to Asuka. Asuka looked ahead, an expression of anger on her face.

"Why…?"

Asuka had no reason to give, she instead repeated what she had said to Kensuke and Touji, shocking the woman in front of her.

"The idiot deserved it running off like that, he only has himself to blame."

Misato stepped back slightly and delivered a slap directly across Asuka's face. She watched as the woman quickly brought her hand up to her cheek and looked at her, hatred burning in her eyes. Misato wanted to reach out and choke the life out of her, to kill her for what she had just said. She shouted at the Agent.

"How the fuck can you say something like that, you don't understand anything about him!"

"How can you justify what he done? He's an idiot and you know it. You can try to somehow justify it just because you were his guardian but you know he only has himself to blame."

Misato promptly slapped her again and ran out of the office, not daring to say anything else. Asuka glared at the door as Misato slammed it shut, her eyes burning. The redhead then dropped to her knees, tears rolling down her cheek as she whispered his name. "Shinji…"


	17. Future Ain't What It Used To Be

'_What is this? Where am I?'_

Complete darkness stretching out for all eternity. Shinji felt himself falling through it, an infinite space in which he was the only one to inhabit it. Suddenly there was a sudden jerking movement, like a train coming to a complete halt. The falling sensation was gone, only to be replaced by the feeling of him floating. Slowly, he felt his body being turned into a standing position by an unknown force. Beneath his feet felt solid, feeling like a concrete floor, yet was still the same empty darkness as before.

"Hello?"

His voice echoed throughout the vastness. He shouted again to be met with only his own echoes as a response. His hands clenched into a fist and unclenched as he stood looking for anything that might exist in the void. The realization hit him, he was completely alone, there was no one, there was nothing there except him and the endless nothingness. He suddenly began to feel intolerably lonely as he dropped to his knees.

He hit his fist off the floor shouting out again, "Where am I? What do you want with me?"

Again only the echoes of his own voice answered back. He hit the floor again in rage only for this time it to feel as if he was plunging his hand into ice cold water. He yelled out in surprise and withdrew his hand. Clutching it tightly to his chest, he peered back to where he had just drove it beforehand. Strangely, he was met by his own reflection, he peered at it, his own blue eyes peering right back at him. He blinked, his reflection still there, only now there was something else, another person, a female with red hair and blue eyes. He quickly span round still crouched and shouted.

"Asuka?"

She gave no response, only staring darkly at him. He stood up looking her in the eyes. She was real, and she was standing in front of him, but how? How could she just appear like that? He questioned her again.

"Asuka is that you? How did you…?"He swallowed. How didn't matter. "What is this place?"

She whispered, "Coward."

"What…What do you mean?"

She moved towards him, repeating the word again. "Coward."

"I...I don't know what you mean."

"You know exactly what I mean, look at you, you're pathetic. You want the truth, you want people to help you, yet you run away from them at every opportunity and look where it's gotten you."

"Asuka I…I'm not, I haven't…" Shinji stuttered.

"Don't try to cover it up Shinji. All we tried to do was help you in your quest yet you refused us. I tried to help you and you refused it, choosing to go off on the words of some guy you only spoke to once."

Shinji shouted back angrily, "You went behind my back first, you knew it was an Angel, you knew all along and said nothing. What was I supposed to do?"

Asuka's expression softened slightly as she spoke back, "Talk to me?"

"How could I have spoke to you, you betrayed me you…you're the one who ran away from me after Mattariel"

Shinji was suddenly made aware of another voice behind him,

"And what about me?"

The Asuka in front of him faded away, he spun around looking at the new person, "Misato?"

"You could have come to me Shinji but you didn't, you _are_ a coward."

There was a horrible, cold maliciousness to her voice. A deliberate accusatory tone that seemed so un-Misatolike, it terrified Shinji to the bone.

"No, I'm not I just…I wanted to see, to prot…"

"You wanted to protect me? Bullshit! You just wanted to cover yourself, you wanted to do it yourself because if anyone else got involved it'd take away from your achievement, you egotistical bastard."

"No, that's not true." He whined. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Oh so that's it is it? But you don't care what happens afterwards to you, you just put yourself first. You don't want people to get hurt so you don't have to feel the guilt, is that it?"

His voice was breaking up slightly as he replied. "No it's not, that's not true."

"Liar"

A third voice appeared in the area this time to Shinji's right, the Misato in front of him faded just as Asuka had. He turned to meet the new voice, this one belonging to Rei Ayanami.

"You want to uncover the truth, yet you run away from it. You want to grow close to people, yet you run away from them. You wish you could be alone, yet when you are you wish for others. Do you even know what you want?"

"Ayanami I…what's happening to me, what is this place?"

"This is your new reality Shinji."

Shinji became aware of another presence behind him, he turned to see Rei again, only slightly older this time. He recognized the person immediately, it wasn't Rei it was the woman he had seen in the forest when the light swept over him. She was almost identical to Rei only older and with brown hair.

"M-Mother?"

_23rd September_

**Mansion – 0930 hours**

His eyes shot open suddenly but the rest of his body refused to move, slowly the room began to come into focus, or at least the ceiling did, followed by a low beeping noise. He blinked twice and again attempted to move, slowly and painfully he turned his head towards the source of the incessant beeping. Shinji realized he was hooked up to some monitor, his eyes followed the pulse monitor flashing from left to right. He turned his head the other way, looking out of a window over an unfamiliar scene. The window was open, a gentle breeze blowing the curtains slightly and reaching him. As the feeling returned to the rest of his body he began to look around the room from the bed. It was a small comfort to him that he wasn't actually in a hospital room.

"You…You're awake?"

Shinji was so wrapped up in wondering where he was, he hadn't noticed the door to the room opening and a woman stepping side. Shinji turned to the source of the voice and took a look, she was dressed in blue jeans and wearing a white t-shirt, her blond hair coming down to her shoulders and she was smiling at him.

"I can't believe you're finally awake, I've got to tell father, stay right there."

Shinji began to reply, "Wait who ar…" He stopped when he saw she had already gone, "Never mind…"

Painfully, he eased himself up taking a better look around the room. Besides his bed were two seats, one of which had a set of clothes on. They were nothing special, just basic jeans and a shirt, he moved his hand out towards them wondering what this place was.

'_How did I get here, the last thing I remember was being in that place after seeing Leliel and…'_

"Spender…"

Shinji felt rage build up inside him. He wanted to jump out of the bed, run across the room and kill the old man now standing in the doorway. The way he said Spender's name also seemed to give off that impression. Both Spender and the young woman from before entered the room, the woman sat on the empty seat next to Shinji's bed and placed her hand on his forehead making him lie back down. Spender however walked over to the window, opening the doorway to the balcony and lighting a cigarette, much to the young woman's disdain.

"Father you shouldn't smoke in here, I've told you that before."

"I'm sure Shinji doesn't mind Rebecca, he'll have more important things on his mind right now, won't you Shinji?"

Rebecca looked from both her father to Shinji and placed a hand on Shinji's shoulder, stopping him from moving. Shinji felt so pathetic being unable to move and being pinned down by a single hand. The only thing he could do was mutter a weak 'Yes'.

"Rebecca if you'll leave us for a moment, me and Shinji have quite a bit to discuss here."

She nodded and smiled at Shinji, "It's good to finally see you awake, we were beginning to think you'd never awaken."

She stood up and left the room, Shinji watched her close the door and propped himself up again turning to face Spender, not quite sure of what to ask the man first.

"Who are you?"

Spender laughed and faced back out of the window, "Not quite the first question I expect from you. I believe I owe you an explanation though." he said, before taking a long and clearly satisfying drag from his cigarette. "Tell me what the last thing you remember is?"

Shinji glared at him, not sure if this was his sick idea of a joke. But still, he went along with it for the moment. "I was inside the location you had given me, I moved into some sort of corridor and everything began to get dark. Somehow it changed, the floor changed to metal, I looked up and there you were standing beside Leliel," Shinji shivered, a cauldron of rage simmering as he clenched his fist.

"You betrayed me! You lead me into a trap!"

Shinji was aware he was shouting but didn't care, shouting was all he could do at this moment.

"I see," the smoking man remained calm. "Shinji, are you aware of whom that young woman is who was inside the room just now?"

"No and I don't care."

"Shinji, that woman is my daughter Rebecca. She's nineteen at the moment and has had quite the thing for you since you were brought here. She's visited you every single day since you came here, hoping you'd wake up so she could thank you."

Shinji looked over at the door and then back to Spender, not quite sure what to think. The young girl wanted to thank Shinji, what for? What did she have to be thankful about, they had never met each other and Shinji certainly felt he hadn't done anything worth thanking for?

"Why? I haven't done anything for anyone to be thankful to me for."

The words were met with another laugh, irritating Shinji. "That's where you're wrong Shinji, you only feel you have done nothing because you don't know _what _you've done."

"And what is it I have done?"

"Saved the world Shinji, that's what you've done. You were never told the reason for the Angel attacks were you."

"You said they were genetically enhanced soldiers or something, an experiment or something like that."

"Correct." Spender nodded. "The reason they were attacking Tokyo 3 is because of what is, or should I say was, hidden there." Spender paused for a moment before continuing, "Look, we should continue this conversation in a more appropriate location and manner. Somehow, I doubt you really want to discuss this wearing nothing and lying in a bed. My daughter will help you get dressed and ready and will bring you down to the kitchen. We'll discuss more there."

Shinji turned red slightly, "Its fine I don't need…"

He attempted to move again when pain shot through his entire body, Spender did not laugh this time, instead he walked over to the bed, placing a hand on Shinji's shoulder.

"I'm afraid you do, you've been gone a long time. It'll still take a bit more time for your body to wake up fully. For now my daughter has offered to help you with anything you need, please let her, she's been waiting a long time to see you wake up."

Shinji nodded, still feeling the effects from his previous attempt to move. He attempted to sit up again and shift his body around just as Spender exited the room and Rebecca came back in. She immediately rushed over to him, stopping him from falling off the bed and making sure the covers didn't fall from him.

"Stay right there, don't move."

Shinji turned to her, "Look I'm fine."

She took a needle from a tray under the monitoring machine and filled it with liquid from a small vial. Shinji felt a slight sting as she injected it into his arm, followed by a slight numbness in the immediate area.

"This should help you regain some of the feeling in your body, it might take a while to take effect so don't do anything strenuous okay, I'm here to help you if you need anything."

"He said I've been gone a long time, what did he mean?"

"Sorry, that was his way of saying you've been in a coma."

"How long for? What's the date?"

She sat down next to him, putting her arm around him and helping him to button up his shirt, "You've been out for five years, it's the twenty third of September, two thousand and twenty."

_15th July 2015_

**NERV Offices – Katsuragi's Office – 0930 hours**

Asuka sat staring directly at Misato, not really taking in a word her director of operations was saying. Around her she was vaguely aware of the other people in the room nodding, asking questions and talking amongst each other. None of it registering at all with Asuka, all she wanted to do was get out of the office and continue searching for Shinji, that was all that had mattered to her over the past week.

"Agent Sohryu are you even listening?"

She looked up straight into the eyes of Misato who was glaring at her, around her she felt the stares of the other people, Kaji, Ayanami, Hikari, Ritsuko, even the stooges were there. Asuka merely snapped back at her.

"Yes I am, we search this area for him, right? I got it. Now can we stop wasting time here and just get on with it. I doubt we're even going to find him there anyway, we've already looked."

"Be that as it may, we now have the Magi with us thanks to Dr Akagi. Regardless of how you feel about this he's out there somewhere, along with our suspect and both need to be found."

Asuka frowned, trying her damndest to show she didn't care, she had even tried to tell herself she didn't care. She told herself she was stupid for crying after Misato slapped her, for worrying about him despite the fact that she _knew_ he deserved it for being an idiot and gallivanting off on his own. Yet every night she had been back to the mansion looking for him, trying to find some sign of him trying to find the thing that took him.

"Yeah, whatever."

She slumped back into her seat, noticing all around her were looking at her in disdain. Hell, even Ayanami seemed to be glaring death at her. Misato ignored the redhead though, and continued speaking.

"Ayanami, you and Sohryu are to search the area around Shinji's old apartment, ask around if anyone has seen him. Also I want you to pay Leliel's first victim a visit, see if he can tell us anything else."

"Kensuke, Touji, try to find anything you can on that guy Spender, or on Leliel."

Both of them nodded and spoke in tune, "Yes Ma'am."

"The rest of us will go back to the mansion and go over it again."

Everyone in the office got up and began to leave, with the notable exception of Asuka who remained seated. She waited until everyone had left before standing and going over to Misato's desk.

"You know you won't find him there so why are you searching again?"

Misato snapped back, "We might have missed something, we can't give up."

"You've been there every day this week, don't you think you would be better off looking elsewhere?"

"Like where, Sohryu? You and Ayanami are going to his old apartment today, besides that there's no where else, there's not even a hint at where he could have gone."

Asuka stopped for a moment, she could think of one place, the craft had hovered overhead. She still hadn't spoken about it with anyone, how could she? It went against everything she believed, it shouldn't have been possible. Sighing, she replied as calmly as she could.

"Fine, go ahead and waste your time."

"You worked with him for nearly half a year, don't you even want to find him?"

"Of course I want to find him, so I can tell him how much of an idiot he is for fucking up my case." She spat, something in the back of her mind simultaneously stinging in a sensitive place.

"Is that what this is about? Because he ruined your case?"

"Yes, I'm the one who started the investigation, I'm the one who had been tracking the guy for a week, while trying to find out whatever I could. I didn't want to tell Shinji until I was sure it was an angel, and then when I do tell him he decides to act the hero and do this. So yes Misato I do want to find him, I want him to return just so I can tell him how much of a fucking idiot he is!"

She didn't realize she'd been screaming until a ringing silence closed back in.

Misato stopped herself from slapping Asuka again when she thought about what she had just said, despite the egotistical nature of it Asuka did have a point and a reason to be angry.

"I guess, that's something at least."

**Directors Office – 1130 hours**

Gendo sat from behind his desk in his usual manner. It had been an unusual week for him, not too long after the meeting with SEELE and the announcement of new additions for the project one of his Agents, his own son, had gone missing. A key part of his own scenario as well, he noted mentally as he looked up at the door to his office. Silently almost, it opened allowing both Kaji and Ritsuko to enter. Gendo stood up and adjusted his suit jacket slightly and began to speak.

"We don't have much time, what is happening?"

Ritsuko stepped forward, "As you already know, Agent Katsuragi called both me and Agent Kaji in today to help with the search for Agent Ikari, your son."

"I am aware of this, what else do we know?"

"So far we have questioned both of Shinji's friends who were monitoring him at the time he disappeared, there were no other witnesses. Agent Sohryu has also given a statement regarding what has happened. Her statement however does not correlate with that given by Shinji's friends."

"In what way?"

"Both of them said that, at the time Shinji went missing, all electronics in the immediate area ceased functioning. The last image recorded on the screen was that of an old grey haired man and what we assume to be Leliel."

"Do we have an identity for the man?"

"No, only a partial description was given, grey hair, about mid fifties early sixties smoking a cigarette."

Both Gendo and Fuyutsuki looked at each other, Fuyutsuki shook his head and spoke.

"Keel…" The elder of the two men growled.

Gendo cut him off, "We cannot be certain of this just yet, if Keel does hold Evangelion Unit One however, we must recover him quickly or if necessary, terminate him."

The statement drew heated glances from Kaji, Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki, Gendo maintained his composure and expression and looked straight on, unfazed by Kaji's outburst.

"But he's your son Gendo, he's…god damnit how can you just do that to him?"

"I am aware of _who_ he is Agent Kaji, but my orders still stand. We cannot afford to take any risks, _especially_ if Keel does have him. A replacement will be prepared, those are my final words on the subject."

Kaji muttered, "Yes, Sir."

"What else do we know?"

Ritsuko gathered herself together and continued, shaking slightly, "Agent Sohryu was unable to see the screen but, from what she said, the description does match that of a man they were contact with recently calling himself Spender. Where the reports get mixed up however is after that, both of Shinji's friends reported that the entire area went pitch black and some sort of alien craft, their words not mine, flew over them. They believe it took Agent Ikari. Asuka however claims she did not see any such thing."

Gendo raised his eyebrows slightly, "Any reason to believe any of them are lying?"

"Sohryu has claimed in the past she does not believe in extraterrestrial life and has often criticized Ikari's belief. There was an incident between them after the last Angel."

"What sort of incident?"

"I'm unsure, all I know is that Sohryu fled the scene directly afterwards, that is why she has not had the second dosage of the Evangelion serum."

"I see, that will be all. You may both leave."

The two of them nodded and left the room, Gendo turned to Fuyutsuki, speaking quietly.

"It would seem that Keel is acting of his own accord. I cannot see the rest of SEELE agreeing to something like this."

"Agreed, but what would he want with Shinji, and why would he have recruited Leliel? I thought Keel was committed to killing the angels, not aligning with them?"

"I'm not sure, we need to get Unit One back though, that's our main priority, what do we know about Leliel?"

"Not much, he was one of GEHIRNS closely guarded secrets, he has claimed one victim so far. I can question Sohryu on the victim if you wish?"

"No, that won't be necessary. Tell Rei however to keep a close watch on Sohryu."

"Yes Sir."

_23rd September 2020_

**Spender Mansion Gardens – 1030 hours**

Five years. A whole five years had passed since that day in the mansion and he had been comatose for the entirety. The thought of it nearly made Shinji throw back up the breakfast he had just eaten. He looked at his pale reflection in the window. He sure didn't seem to have aged much or indeed look too different for that matter. There were a few cuts on his face from where Rebecca had accidentally cut whilst shaving him, something she had profusely apologized for, but aside from that he was the same person from that same day.

He wasn't really sure what to think, he didn't know anything about where he was or what had happened to anyone. Asuka, Misato, Ayanami, his father, did they all know he was comatose, were they sat waiting for the day he would wake up? Were any of them even still alive? Rebecca hadn't told him anything, saying she would leave the explanation to her father. Instead she chose to thank him, thank him for an act he didn't even know he had performed.

He looked out across the garden, the mansion was huge, the gardens even more so. He wondered just how Spender was able to afford something like this. Maybe it had something to do with the people he worked for or maybe there was something else. He didn't have to wait long for any answers as he spotted Spender coming towards him.

"Ikari, I see you made it, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, muscles are still a little tight but I'm feeling much better than I was an hour ago."

"That's good to hear, look come with me, there's something I need to explain."

Shinji began to follow the old man as they started to walk around the gardens. Spender began to explain the situation.

"I'm guessing Rebecca has already informed you of the date?"

Shinji nodded, "Twenty third of September two thousand and twenty, right?"

"That's correct, has she also told you that you're not in Japan anymore?"

Shaking his head he replied, "No she hasn't, so where are we then?"

"England, the north east to be precise, not in one of those smoggy industrial towns, we're in an isolated area of the country side. You see, five years ago on that day I brought you here to protect you Shinji."

"Protect me?"

"That's correct, do you remember being injected with something around the time of the Sachiel case?"

Shinji tried to remember, he remembered the case but not being injected with anything. "I don't think so, I remember being attacked and waking up at a medical facility some time later. Asuka was injected with something I think they said it was a vaccine for something in the forest area where we encountered Sachiel."

"A vaccine? Shinji regretfully, and probably not for the first time today I'm saying this, but you were lied to. That was not a vaccine that was injected into you and Sohryu. That was a serum developed in secret by GEHIRN, by a team of scientists known as part of Project E."

Shinji stopped walking and turned to him, "Project E?"

"Yes, I expect you have heard the word Evangelion throughout your cases, especially when dealing with the Angels?"

"Yes, one of them referred to me as an Evangelion."

"They were correct, what you were injected with was a modification on the same serum the Angels themselves were injected with. As you may have guessed the Angels are genetically altered humans, each one the result of a different experiment on certain strands of DNA."

"Certain DNA?"

"Alien DNA to be precise. GEHIRN's goal was to create a new breed of human based on an alien race discovered in the early fifties. They were backed by very powerful people and soon a syndicate was created, managing to sneak themselves into the Japanese Government."

Shinji didn't say anything, it was so much for him to take in. Instead he merely nodded, allowing Spender to continue speaking.

"Unfortunately there was a flaw, the two alien bodies they harvested the DNA from weren't dead. They named them Adam and Lillith and attempted to put them into stasis, afraid that the aliens would contact the rest of their race. Over the years until the early nineties progress was made on the Angel project, until there was an incident.

You see the GEHIRN made a mistake when they created the Angels, the mutations and alterations were perfect, it was the subjects, they chose criminals, people on death row, people no one would miss, Murderers, Rapists, general scum. They couldn't control the Angels, so what did they do? They cast them out in stasis, aware that they would wake up one day but it was for the good of mankind. So they restarted the project with a new team of scientists under the lead of one man."

Shinji didn't even need to wait for Spender to tell him the name, he knew straight away. "My father…"

"Correct, Gendo Ikari, or Rokubungi as he was then. He was a brilliant man, intelligent, ambitious and very good at getting what he wanted. It also helped that he was engaged to the project's head scientist, your mother, Yui Ikari."

"My mother was a part of this as well?"

"She was the head scientist on the project, this time they had two goals. They needed to not only stop the Angels they had just cast out but they also wanted to create what they called a super race."

Shinji felt a chill run down his spine, his mother had been involved as well. His father he would have expected but he had always been told how nice of a person his mother was, yet she had been involved in something like this too.

"Who else was on the team?"

"An older scientist, the mother of someone you met recently, Doctor Naoko Akagi and the third member of the team was another young scientist a close friend of your mothers, Doctor Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu."

Shinji looked back in surprise, that was a name he did not expect to hear. "Sohryu, Asuka's mother? I thought Asuka was German?"

"She is, she was born in Germany but lived in Japan for the first four years of her life up until her mother died. Then she went back to Germany to stay with relatives and for a short period. Agent Kaji in particular, who I believe you know."

"Her mother died?"

"Yes, when she was young. I do not know the circumstances surrounding it but I do know it was around the same time your own mother died."

"My mother was taken, she was…"

"Abducted? Yes there were many who believed that was so, there were many that believed she was murdered by Ge…well its best not to mention that. This is about the truth and not silly rumours."

Shinji looked at him suspiciously, was he about to say his mother was murdered by Gendo, it couldn't have been. Surely not even his father was capable of that. Shinji decided to let it pass and ask his next question.

"So what did the Angels want?"

"They knew about the plans to create this super race, they knew about Adam and Lillith. They returned fifteen years after the impact incident, another accident at GEHIRN, this time involving Adam. Their plan was to return to Adam or Lillith and try to summon the alien race who left them on this planet."

"And then what?"

"First of all to destroy those that abandoned them and then bargain with the aliens to control humanity."

"C…Control humanity?"

"Yes, you see GEHIRN wanted to use the power of the angels to create a new breed of human to advance humanity if you will. The angels wanted to hand us over to the aliens, the angels were criminals. They were driven by greed, by power, what else was to be expected."

"So we were injected to stop the Angels from reaching Adam?"

"Correct."

"But, what about the Angels after Leliel, you said I saved the world, yet there were more after Leliel."

"That's right, however Leliel was not a criminal like most of the others, he returned to me and our organization with a plan. To end it once and for all, he would help us take out the angels and stop the serum from spreading."

A realization hit Shinji suddenly, "That's why you lured me to that place?"

"That's right, the injection we gave you was to nullify the serum. Your body however had an adverse reaction to it and put you in a coma. NERV was looking for you, the rest of the Angels would appear soon so we had to get you out of there. I brought you here and my daughter looked after you while you were comatose."

Shinji nodded, it was a lot to take in and most of it was beginning to make sense. There was still one thing on his mind though. "I see, but what about the others. Sohryu was injected as was Ayanami."

"After you vanished NERV searched for you repeatedly. There were two teams, one lead by Katsuragi and the other lead by Sohryu. After a month it was declared that you were missing and the search was called off. Sohryu however didn't give up and continued looking and digging into it, the remaining Angels attacked and were taken out, unfortunately Agent Ayanami was killed in the process."

Shinji lowered his head. "I see…"

"Shortly after, the remaining angels were defeated. A year after you had gone missing. GEHIRN's plan was made public thanks to Sohryu and Katsuragi's investigation. The world was now aware of what had happened and although you were no where to be seen you were hailed as a hero. Director of NERV, Gendo Ikari was found and sentenced to life imprisonment for his actions and was replaced by Sohryu."

"She's the director of NERV?"

"She is now yes, Katsuragi retired after the whole fiasco and serves as an advisor from what I hear."

"I see…"

Shinji raised his head and looked out across the sky. In the distance he could see dark rain clouds forming, yet behind him the blue sky stretched on endlessly. A chill ran through him again as he thought about all he had just been told. The mystery of the Angels solved, Asuka becoming director, his father being sentenced for orchestrating it all. It was all too good to be true. Yet there he was. So much had happened while he had been out of it, it was all too much to take in. He felt something heavy on his back, almost as if someone was pressing down on him, a wave of nausea swept through him as he felt his eyes growing heavy. Without saying anything else he slumped to the floor passing out.

_15th July 2015_

**Shinji Ikaris Residence – 1045 hours**

Asuka pulled the car over to the side of the road and looked out across the building site, it had been months since the building had been burnt down and they were only just rebuilding now. Looking around she looked for any signs of life from the yard, no one was there they had all probably packed up and gave up due to the heavy rain. She turned and looked at Ayanami, who had been stone silent for the entire journey, the same expression on her face all the time.

Asuka spoke, her voice smacking of sarcasm. "Ok we're here, time to commence wasting our time."

"Why do you believe this to be a waste of time Sohryu?"

"Well look at it, it's nothing more then a building site now. Shinji was taken from a mansion on the outskirts of town. He hasn't lived here for over two months and had no plans to return. What are we going to find here?"

"So you believe searching is a waste of time?"

"Searching here yes, it's not like they're going to let the idiot out for a walk anyway."

"I do not understand why you refer to him as an idiot all the time, should you not be more sympathetic towards him as you work with him."

Asuka looked at her and laughed, "Sympathetic? He brought this on himself, if he hadn't let his ego get in the way and try to take over my case this wouldn't have happened."

Rei glared at her, she tried to control her anger towards the red headed agent. She couldn't understand Asuka, if anything it seemed so hypocritical of her to be talking about ego's getting in the way.

"Is the fact that this is disrupting your case the only thing you care about?"

Asuka was nearly out of the car when she heard Ayanami's words, a cocky smile adorned her lips as she replied casually, "Not the only thing I care about, but like I've been saying the idiot got himself into this situation."

"If you had told him about the case in the first place would he not have gone off on his own?"

That hit her hard, the words were like a proverbial punch to Asuka's stomach, it was exactly what she had been thinking for the past week. She had been trying to tell herself she wasn't to blame and Rei had just reminded her of that. Without turning to face Rei she shouted back.

"Don't try to shift the blame onto me, let's just get this over with."

Asuka didn't give Rei a chance to reply instead stormed off around the back of the building thankful for once that it was raining, thankful that no one could tell the difference between the tears falling down her cheeks and the droplets of rain.


	18. Kobayashi Maru

_30th September 2020_

**Spender Mansion – 1115 hours**

"A mistake, a dreadful mistake" were the only words Shinji could use to describe it. He immediately brought his hand up to his forehead, shaking his head in embarrassment. If only he hadn't hit it with that much power, and aimed the shot a little more to the left maybe then he wouldn't have the tough task of digging the ball out of the sand. From behind him he heard Spender laughing at him.

"And there I was, thinking NERV Agents were all born to play golf."

Shinji shook his head and walked over to where the ball had landed, "Most are, I never really took to the game though."

"Any particular reason?"

Shinji paused for a moment lining the shot up, "You should already know, I wasn't really one for friends throughout my time at NERV. Asuka was the first time I worked with someone long term and I don't really think golf was on her priority list."

"Oh I don't know, I hear from people I know that Soryhu is a pretty mean player on the green."

"Really, Well isn't that something?"

He swung the club, not really paying much attention to the ball, merely topping it up out of the sand trap. Shinji wasn't really too sure if this was what he wanted, it all seemed too easy. There he was at twenty eight years of age, well thirty three due to him having spent five of those years unconscious in a bed, and already he had retired.

The fact was, he couldn't work. As soon as the name Shinji Ikari appeared on an application people would know he was alive. Spender had told him that for every fan Shinji had acquired since he saved the world, he had also acquired an equal amount of enemies. People who wanted the angels to succeed and if given the chance would finish what they started.

Then there was the other factor, NERV. Shinji hadn't asked about his status within NERV now and what would happen if they learnt he was alive. He knew Misato and Asuka were still alive. Were they still looking for him? Did they know about him being here, or had they long forgotten who he was?

He hadn't spoken any further to Spender about the entire thing beyond the conversation they'd had last week. Even then it hadn't exactly been a long conversation. Immediately afterwards, Spender had shown him around the house and the village nearby. He had been introduced to the old man's family before being given a private room of his own to stay in. Spender had even told Shinji he was welcome to stay however long he felt like.

But still, there was that sense of doubt hanging over him. He'd been told the truth he'd sought for so long yet still, something wasn't right. It was almost too convenient. Something inside him bore at his conscience, demanding to ask more questions, to probe further, maybe even returning to Japan and seeing Misato again. Yet at the same time he couldn't bring himself to mention anything, frightened that if he did say a word he might somehow break the illusion of happiness he had while being here.

"Earth to Shinji?" Spender derailed his train of thought.

Shinji jumped slightly, "Huh?"

"You seem preoccupied by something."

"Sorry I was just…thinking."

"You were thinking about them weren't you?" The elderly man questioned.

Shinji nodded, "I was just thinking, do they even know I'm alive or do have they..."

"Forgotten about you?" Spender fished "No Shinji, they haven't forgotten, although the search teams for you were called off the year you went missing, they haven't forgotten. Soryhu still has people listening out for any sign of you, and I'm told Katsuragi has been spotted several times, sniffing on the trail of even the remotest possible lead."

The words were somewhat of a relief to the man, "So they haven't given up?"

"Not as far as I know, at least that's what my information tells me."

Spender began walking back to the small golf kart they had gotten for themselves, as Shinji quietly picked the ball out of the hole. As he looked up he felt a presence behind him, he turned around and his eyes widened at the sight.

'This isn't… how did she…'

He blinked and the figure was gone, but the image of her was still burnt into his mind. A second ago staring back at him was the one person he hadn't expected to see, the person Spender had told him had died. Her name left his lips as he continued staring on at the patch of worn grass where the pale, blue haired woman had been standing.

"Ayanami?"

_17th July 2015_

**Bar – 2300 hours**

Misato stared into the half empty glass, her reflection staring back at her, distorted by the clear liquid at the bottom. She contemplated it for a moment and in one swift movement, downed the rest of the contents. She set the glass down on the table and placed her head heavily on her hand, not really looking at anything in particular. She didn't even notice Kaji walking across and sitting on the other side of the table.

"Katsuragi, what a surprise seeing you here."

There was no humor in his words, only a slight hint of worry. He placed his own drink down and handed another one to Misato.

"I asked the barman what you were drinking and got you one," he forced a smile ."Not that you really need it."

She turned, finally noticing him and spoke, sounding dejected, "Oh it's you."

"Glad you noticed." Kaji grinned

"Shut up Kaji." Katsuragi grumbled.

"You still blame me, don't you?"

Misato glanced at him before taking a sip of her drink and then speaking again, "You're the one who had us call off the search. He's only been missing for a week. If we had been given more time we would have found him."

"That hasn't stopped you from looking though has it?"

Misato snapped back at him, trying not to shout, "Of course it has, I'm stuck in the office doing paperwork all the time now, I can't do anything."

Kaji replied casually with a sly grin, "Really, then what was Soryhu doing at the scene again today?"

Misato blinked.

"She…she was at the scene?"

Kaji was left more than a little surprised at Misato not knowing about this, if anything he'd expected Misato would have told Asuka and Ayanami to search again.

"You mean you didn't send her?" the agent questioned

"Of course not. If I was going to look, I'd do it myself. Why would she even be there anyway? She thinks he deserved it."

"Sometimes, people say things but they can mean something else entirely..."

Misato spoke from behind her glass, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, it just seems a bit strange you know, Soryhu calling him an idiot and saying he deserved it, yet she seems to be the most determined to find him."

"Determined? And you just think I've been doing nothing then?"

"No I didn't mean that, I know you've been trying to find him."

Misato cut him off unaware that she was now shouting, "Good, just because that bitch decides to go there one more time doesn't mean she's more determined than anyone else."

Kaji quickly moved to defend himself, whilst gesturing to Misato keep her voice down. "I didn't mean it like that, sorry."

"It's just…It's just…" Misato paused for a moment before breaking down into tears, all the emotion from the past week having finally got to her, "I don't know what to do…"

She felt Kaji slip his arm around her, pulling her body tightly towards his own. She responded by putting her arms around him, burying her face sobbing into his jacket. She didn't care that everyone else in the bar was looking at them, or that she was holding onto the person she told herself she hated, there was something about the warmth of another body that made her feel better. She wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve and spoke through the sobbing.

"It's my fault." she mumbled, trying to catch her breath.

"Don't say such a stupid thing."

"It's true though," Misato continued, "If he thought people believed him, in what he was doing, he might not have tried to do it alone. I should have been there for him, I should have helped him but I just said nothing like a coward."

Kaji grabbed hold of both her shoulders and shook her slightly, "Misato, that's not true and you know it."

She ignored him and just continued speaking,

"I wanted to help, I wanted to tell him that I believed the same things he did, but I couldn't, I wanted him to help me find out what happened to my father as well."

"Misato, what are you talking about?"

"My father wasn't killed in Tokyo ," she said, looking up at Kaji with tear shimmering eyes. "I saw the lights over the city and I saw the huge ships, it was a mass abduction, like people said, like Shinji'd always believed."

Kaji bowed his head slightly and pulled her up to her feet, whispering softly into her ear, "I think you've had enough, I'm walking you home."

Kaji put his arm around her and slowly began to guide her out of the bar, the alcohol showing its effect on her step. They walked out of the bar and got a short while down the street before Misato quickly released herself from his grasp and ran into the nearly alley, her hand clamped over her mouth. Kaji made his way over to her and held her hair back and commenting sarcastically.

"Drinking until you throw up, very adult of you there Misato."

She stopped vomiting and spoke back quietly, "Shut up."

Weakly she stood up, wobbling on jelly legs for a moment before she fell back into his waiting arm. Kaji placed his arm on her shoulder and guided her out of the alleyway.

"I'm sorry for being an…for making you…For you...having…I don't know."

"Well whatever you're sorry for I accept."

"Kaji…what are they called?"

"What are who called?"

She responded, "The aliens."

"'They' don't have a name," he answered. "'They' are just known as 'them'"

"What do 'them' want?"

"I don't know, that's what I intend to find out." Kaji said.

"How?" Misato questioned.

"You should be able to figure it out."

"I…will?"

"I'll tell you when you're sober, you're in no condition for this type of thing."

"I'm perfectly fine look."

Misato released herself from him and took a few steps forward, she staggered a bit and was just about to walk directly into a lamppost when Kaji stopped her.

"Look we're nearly at your flat, I'll get you home and into bed."

"Bed sounds good…sleeping is fun."

Kaji groaned slightly as she threw herself into his arms and closed her eyes. His fears were confirmed when he heard a snore coming from the woman. A sense of guilt washed over him as he began to take her home.

'Sorry Misato but I couldn't let you drink yourself to death in there. You'll thank me for it later, I'll explain everything tomorrow'

_18th July 2015_

**Hospital – 1212 hours**

Asuka breathed slowly and deeply as she put her hand on the door. The last time she had visited him didn't exactly end the way she wanted to. The image of the hanging doll was still firmly imprinted on her mind just as the doll had been when they saw Israefel. She kept on telling herself that it was just a stupid drawing or a stupid kid's toy and it shouldn't affect her, there was nothing it could do.

Before opening the door she quickly told herself 'Come on Asuka don't be so stupid, it's not like he knows about mot. .'

"Agent Soryhu?"

She turned around to face the person who had just spoke, the same nurse from when she and Shinji had first came down here. Asuka nodded and replied, "Hi, how is Ushiyama doing?"

The nurse shook her head, "Not good I'm afraid, he refuses to see his children, claiming they aren't real. Instead he just sits there talking to drawings, saying they're his kids."

The words ripped through Asuka, she felt her stomach begin to turn, "I see."

"He keeps on asking for Agent Ikari though, he says that he wants Ikari to know the truth before he returns."

"Returns?" Asuka's eyes lit up, "Return where?" she demanded, the nurse taken aback momentarily.

"I don't know," she answered. "We're moving him to a psychiatric hospital soon It's sad but he keeps on getting worse with each day."

"It'll be for the best, especially if he can't recognize his own children."

Asuka felt a stinging sensation behind her eyes. She turned her head and blinked it away, that was something she didn't need. She opened the door to the room slightly, wishing she had never come here in the first place...

'Why am I doing this?' she asked herself, 'Just to get Shinji back?'

Slowly she stepped into the room. Ushiyama was sat upright, staring out of the window across at the Tokyo 3 skyline. Scattered around him were multiple copies of the same two drawings, each of two different children. Asuka tried not to look at them as she walked across to his bedside. As Ushiyama turned to look at her she spoke, her voice betraying her barely restrained anger.

"You know where he is, don't you?"

"He has found his reality." the man answered as if it was the most obvious thing.

Again with the reality bullshit. Asuka sighed as he turned to look back outside the window. This was worse than dealing with drug addicts, at least they didn't remind you of your childhood.

"What do you mean he has found his reality, where did Leliel take him?"

He laughed, "Leliel take him? Leliel doesn't take them, Keel takes them. He invites you in and then they take you to show you your reality."

Asuka thought about his words, Keel invites them in. Shinji didn't know anyone called Keel, nor did Asuka to the best of her knowledge. She stood there thinking for a few moments more then it hit her, Shinji had been given Leliel's location by Spender. She was unaware of the words leaving her mouth.

"Spender… " She paused for a moment before speaking more frantically, "What did they do to you?"

"They have shown me the truth," he answered with an insane joy. "It was paradise Soryhu, a true paradise, but as soon as I had gotten used to it they cast me back out into this world. It's so unfair don't you think?"

Asuka just continued questioning him, "What was this paradise like?"

"It was like my dreams, just like Ikari's is."

A theory began to develop in Asuka's mind. If she hadn't been so desperate to find Shinji she would have dismissed it as pure idiocy yet now, it seemed to make sense when put with what she had just been told. She quickly made her way out of the room and took her cell phone out looking through the list of numbers, eventually she scrolled down to the one she wanted.

'Okay…I have to do this, I know they're idiots but I have to get him back, he's mine god Dammit'.

She pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear waiting for the reply, after a short while a voice she immediately recognized as Kensuke's came across the other side.

"Kensuke, It's Soryhu."

His reply was swift and spoken with a hint of anger. Asuka hadn't done herself any favors with him or Touji when she'd said that Shinji'd deserved to be captured. _"Oh the red devil, what do you want?"_

"I need your help with something."

She felt so dirty saying that.

_"What could you possibly need our help with, and why would we help you anyway?"_

"Because I'm going to get Shinji back."

_"You mean the person who you called an idiot and said deserved to be captured?"_

Asuka snarled, her ego forcing her to reply harshly, "Yes that's the one, I'm going to find him and tell him how much of an idiot he is."

_"What's in it for us?"_

"What do you mean what's in it for you?" she snapped "Don't you want your friend back?"

_"Yes we do, but if it means working with you we want something else."_

Asuka couldn't believe it, she was trying to negotiate with two people she should really arrest anyway for illegal activity. She was tempted to use that against them when she realized that she and Shinji were involved anyway. "Look can we sort this out later? We don't have time for this."

_"Fine but just because it's Shinji, don't expect any other help from us."_

"Fine with me, I'll be sure to tell the idiot how useful you guys were as well."

_"What do you want then?"_

"Are you and Touji knowledgeable about psionics?"

_"Psionics, yes but what does this have to do with Shinji?"_

"What do you know about telepaths?"

**Director's Office – 1330 hours**

"Is this what you've been able to find?"

Gendo was stood behind his of his desk. Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko and Kaji stood around the desk looking inwards. Gendo looked at the documents before him, various overhead images of the coastal area, about thirty miles outside of the city. On each photo Ritsuko had circled areas and made a small note next to them.

Ritsuko nodded "Yes, I was able to set the Magi off running an analysis on what we know. We were also able to use data we em…'borrowed' from the rest of SEELE and the committee to confirm our analysis. We believe Leliel and Keel have him in one of the crashed pods outside of the city, each area I've circled indicates one of the pods."

Gendo frowned. It was the first bit of emotion he had shown since the whole incident began. "They are not making it easy for us, it seems SEELE have one agenda while Keel has his own, using this Spender alias to try to manipulate both Eva's."

"It would seem so sir, however what would Keel's agenda be? Surely as the head of the committee, what he says goes."

"Keel is an intelligent man, he might be the head of the committee but he knows he doesn't have full control over them. If the others disagree with him or want him removed they can have it done so."

Fuyutsuki cut in at that moment, "It would seem Keel wants to do more than gain their trust now, after all I doubt kidnapping one of them is a good way to gain favors."

"It's what happens after he kidnaps them that's the concern" the Commander growled "We do not have the appropriate information on Leliel to make a full judgment. Agent Kaji, you have been tracking Soryhu have you not, what do you know?"

"As predicted she disobeyed the order for the search to be called off and is now conducting her own little investigation. She visited the previous victim of Leliel's today. I do not know what was said but afterwards she headed off in the direction of Shinji's otaku friends."

"Unit two is proving much more rash than we anticipated, just like her mother. However the situation calls for a little bit more than just rashness, we need to act fast. Its possible Keel has already informed Shinji about us. If that happens…"

Fuyutsuki finished off his sentence, "The Scenario is doomed to fail and SEELE win?"

"Correct."

"I will make sure this information conveniently lands in Sohryu's path then." Kaji spoke out.

Both Ritsuko and Kaji left, Gendo sitting back down as Fuyutsuki took a seat nearby.

"Keel working with one of the Angels. I can't see that arrangement lasting long."

"It only needs to last long enough for Keel to get what he wants, I intend to gain the upper hand however. If we can expose Keel to Soryhu or even to Shinji it should cause a bit of a stir in the collective, buy us a bit more time for our own preparations."

"Hmmm, Leliel worries me. He was a product of secret experiments during the cold war, before he became attached to the Angel Project. He is fully aware of what he is and has experience using his power, even if we can get Shinji back it's possible he won't even be the same person."

"That is why we have the replacement dummy plug lined up, if anything should happen we will be able to load everything into the clone."

"Sound's like you've already made your mind up."

Gendo smiled from behind his folded hands and responded with a hint of arrogance in his voice, "I have, the replacement will be unnecessary. Shinji is stronger than that."

_18th July 2015_

**30km South of Tokyo 3 – 2330 hours**

Asuka stopped the car and scanned the area. She couldn't believe that all this was outside of Tokyo 3. She couldn't even remember crossing the threshold from forest into desert. As she stepped out of the car the night breeze washed over her, sending a shiver down her spine. She locked the door and withdrew her torch from its pocket, although the moon was providing a decent amount of illumination on its own.

She took a few steps forward and immediately felt something beneath her, whereas before it'd felt like sand now it was a much harder and sturdier surface. She knelt down and began to brush away some of the sand, uncovering a cold rounded metal surface with various markings on it. The marking that caught her eye immediately however was the one she had seen countless times before, the image of the triangle with seven eyes within it.

She moved along a bit more trying to get a feel of the general shape of the object beneath her, trying to find someway inside it. Shinji was in there and she knew it. A few more meters and she felt it begin to sink slightly. The sand around this piece was mostly uncovered. She knelt down and noticed two small handles revealing that it was some type of hatch.

Slowly she began to open it and peered down, moving her torch around. She couldn't believe it. It was a corridor of some type of alien craft. There was a short ladder leading down onto the main deck below. From inside she could hear two voices, the first of which she recognized as belonging to Spender or as she now knew him to be, Keel. The second voice also belonged to a man, but she could not recognize it, she assumed it to be Leliel though.

'Just as I was told'

She swung herself around and down into the hatch, making sure to be as quiet as possible as she followed the ladder down. Much to her surprise the corridor was dimly lit by blue lighting attached to the ceiling. Most of the corridor was unlike anything she had seen before. The walls were a dark metallic grey, along them were various pipes dripping a liquid she knew to be LCL. A chill ran down her, for some reason it was suddenly extremely cold.

As she inched further up the corridor the two voices grew louder. She stopped just short of an entrance way into another room. It appeared to be some sort of laboratory, inside she could see both Keel and Leliel moving around a large lab table towards the centre. .Someone, she didn't know who, was strapped on top of it.

'Shinji…is that you? What are they doing to you?'

A few more moments passed as she watched, impatiently grabbing hold of her handgun. From outside Asuka watched Leliel making his way over to one of the control panels inside the laboratory. Apparently oblivious to her presence, he began typing in commands. Shortly afterwards, a loud hum began from a device directly over Shinji. She edged closer and watched as a faint blue glow appeared over the device and began to cover her colleague, Keel turned around and watched the glow, Leliel quickly typing more commands into the console. From behind him Keel questioned him angrily, "What are you doing?"

Leliel responded, "I knew it was a set up Keel and I know about the dampeners you're about to activate before you kill me. I accepted my fate a long time ago, but he doesn't have to. I carried out my end of the deal and you betrayed me, as my final act I'm showing him what truly awaits if he trusts a piece of shit like…"

Leliel was unable to get his final word out before Keel withdrew a small handgun and shot him pointblank in the chest. Leliel slumped forward and dropped to his knees, looking up at Keel. From around the corner Asuka watched as Keel calmly withdrew a handkerchief and cleaned the splashes of blood from his gun. She resisted the urge to rush in and shoot him herself, instead patiently waiting for him to move away from Shinji.

'Do not confront Keel, that's what they told me.'

"He's all yours, Soryhu."

Asuka looked up at Keel moving down the deck towards the ladder. Keel knew she was there yet, he hadn't done anything. Did he know that she knew about him and simply not care or was he unaware? Deciding she didn't have much time to think about is, she quickly made her way into the room only to find Leliel had gotten to his feet and was now standing over Shinji. She drew her pistol and targeted him. He turned round and looked her straight in the eyes, traces of desperation in his own. She kept her gun trained directly on him and shouted out.

"Move away from him."

Leliel didn't move, instead he dropped to one knee, LCL dripping from his wound. He spoke, his voice hoarse and desperate.

"Soryhu…you need to help him get out of it, please let me help you…"

"How can you help me?"

"He has to come out of this on his own, I can't break the link by force or he'll die. I can establish a weak link between you and him. There will be no risk to you, please do this."

"Why do you want to have him out of it so badly?"

"Because if he doesn't come out of this, that man Keel and SEELE they win, the rest of the Angels will come, driven by their need to acquire Adam's DNA. If one of them does so it'll be over, but if they fail, SEELE will be able to execute their own scenario. Only you and Shinji can prevent this. Please," the Angel begged, "We don't have long left, my time here is running short."

"What do I have to do?"

"Just stand there."

She stood over at where he was pointing and looked down at Shinji's unconscious form, every so often she saw him twitch. She grabbed hold of his hand as she heard the Angel behind her tapping at a console.

"I'm opening a link between all three of us, you will be able to see what he see's. You will for a brief moment be of one mind and then you will be separate entities but you will be inside his mind."

"Inside his mind?"

"Yes, I can't explain. I have this ability to alter peoples perception of reality, you need to get him to wake up from the fake reality Keel forced me to put him into. When you do I will show you the truth."

Asuka nodded at him, it sounded so ridiculous. All this talk about realities, neural links and being of one mind, how could it be possible? It shouldn't be possible. She didn't get a chance to ask anymore questions as a white light surrounded her, she felt herself being pulled through something as various images flashed through her mind. Images of her own past, images she thought she had locked away. Each one only lasting for a brief second, her as a young girl, her mother in the hospital, the doll her mother kept with her and then…the day it happened. Asuka nearly screamed out when she saw the still figure but as soon as it appeared it had vanished, instead now she was seeing images she didn't recognize, a mansion, Shinji talking to Keel. Keel telling him the year, with each word she heard from Keel, each goddamn lie she felt more angered. Angered not by the lies themselves but angered by the fact that Shinji believed each and every one of them.

_30th September 2020_

**Spender Mansion**

Shinji stood alone looking out across the seemingly endless countryside, behind him was Spender's mansion. The image of Rei from earlier on was still planted firmly in his mind. Was it only a hallucination or was it something more? Spender hadn't mentioned any side effects of the treatment Shinji was now receiving, then again, Shinji hadn't even asked.

Since seeing Ayanami he had kept his distance from any of the people in the house, wanting time on his own to think about that had happened and what would happen next. He didn't want to have to stay here for the rest of his life and have to rely on them, he was grateful but at the same time he wasn't happy.

He walked forward a bit when a sudden chill ran down his spine, he suddenly got the same feeling he had when he's seen Ayanami earlier that day, the feeling that someone was there watching him. Slowly he turned around. Standing ten meters from him was Asuka. She was wearing the same dark suit he last remembered her wearing, her long red hair blew in the breeze. He eyes were fixed on him almost as if they were burning a hole straight through him.

"You coward," she spat. "Taking the easy way out, so desperate to find the truth that when someone tells you something resembling what you want to hear away you go and believe it like a fool."

"Asuka…what are you doing here?" he questioned, his mind spinning in a reverie of conflicting thoughts. "They told me you were the head of NERV now."

She stood completely motionless, her eyes still fixed on him. Once again she spoke with even more venom in her voice. "Well isn't that convenient Shinji. You find your truth and nothing else matters."

"Wha...What do you mean?"

"You didn't want the truth, you just wanted what was convenient for you. You wanted your beliefs to be confirmed so that you could run away and hide from the rest of the world."

"I didn't run away, I…didn't…" he stuttered.

"Bullshit! You act under the pretense that you don't want to hurt anyone, but in reality it's you who doesn't want to be hurt. You don't care about anyone as long as it turns out great for you."

"That's not true..."

"Of course it is. Look at when Misato first adopted you. You ran away then because you were frightened of her, then when you first started working with me and I told you about your father, you did it again, and now, well, you join up the dots idiot."

Shinji felt the anger rising inside him, he began to shout back.

"How have I run away, I didn't have any choice but to be here? They brought me here…"

"You had a choice Shinji, and you made up your mind."

"No I didn't want to…it's not…"

Sudden pain shot through his body again just as it had before he awakened from the coma, Asuka began moving towards him as he dropped down to his knees. She brought a hand up to his cheek and caressed it slowly, Shinji looked her in the eyes, they were still filled with rage.

"You really are pathetic, you want to see the truth? This is what your truth is going to be if you don't wake up, this is the real truth."

Shinji clutched hold of his head and screamed out as more pain shot through it, he felt as if he was being torn apart inside. He continued looking up into Asuka's eyes but his vision was now becoming nothing more then a blur. He felt her taking hold of him and pulling him towards her as everything faded to darkness.

Slowly he felt himself falling towards the ground, his vision began to reappear but the scene had now changed. It was no longer the vibrant green English countryside he had been in for the past week, now it was like something out of a nightmare. Beside him Asuka stood, not speaking but looking out over the cliff top they were standing on, beneath them the water crashing against the rocks, only it had turned a dark red color. In the distance Shinji could make out figures moving back and forth, huge monstrous tripods taller than anything he had seen before. They strode effortlessly through a series of ships set out across the water, as they did so they emitted a deafening howl which roared through the air like thunder.

Above them was another huge road, a series of spotlights scanning the area. Shinji looked up and saw a huge craft moving over them. Asuka turned to him and began speaking.

"This is what will happen if you don't return, Leliel is showing us this. What Keel has shown you was a lie, an illusion based on what you thought you wanted. Please just come back, we need you…I need you."

_18th July 2015_

**Laboratory – 2345 hours**

Shinji's eyes shot open, he found himself staring directly into a light overhead, beside him he could vaguely make out the shapes of two people. As he began to regain his vision he turned his head slightly and noticed Asuka was kneeling beside where he was lying. Slightly behind her was the man he recognized as Leliel, he was clutching his chest and standing near a computer panel. Shinji whispered hoarsely.

"What…what is this place?"

"This is one of their ships Shinji, you were right they do exist."

"I was…right?"

She didn't get a chance to respond as Leliel interrupted her, "Soryhu, get him out of here, you don't have the time for this. If SEELE learn what has happened here they will send someone out, someone who cannot be stopped, even by an Evangelion."

"You know about the Evangelion project?"

"Yes, I know you two are Units One and Two respectively, please just get out of here. I will handle the rest."

Asuka nodded and began to lift Shinji up off of the lab table, she put her arm around him and began to walk him out of the room back into the corridor she had came down. The next step however was getting him up the short ladder out of the craft.

"Shinji are you alright to climb this?"

"I'll…be alright."

Asuka began to climb the ladder and made her way out of the hatch back onto the beach, she extended her hand down and shouted towards Shinji, her voice echoing throughout the night.

"Shinji, grab my hand I'll help you up."

She felt him taking hold of her hand and saw him moving slowly up the ladder, she pulled with all her strength trying to get him up and out of the hatch. As she did so she could have sworn she saw a faint orange glow around them both, but she shrugged it off as stress.

After a brief struggle he was out and she was helping him towards her waiting car. Asuka quickly put him into the back of the car, she stepped into the car and heard him speaking again.

"He said he was sorry."

"What do you mean?"

Asuka began moving the car away, just as she did so she heard a rumbling sound underneath her as the ground began to shake. She floored the accelerator and moved the car away quickly in any direction, as she did so fire tore through the sky and a deafening explosion was heard all around them. She looked around in horror and saw various pieces of the metal craft being thrown up into the air.

She turned back round and kept on driving towards Tokyo 3 trying to put it out of her mind, trying to concentrate on herself and Shinji getting back safely. At the back of her mind though what she had just seen stabbed at her, the Angel, Leliel had sacrificed himself to protect them, not only that but he had told them that they were the only ones who could change what the rest of the Angels or SEELE were trying to do.

_19th July 2015_

**Asuka's Residence – 0020 hours**

Asuka stumbled into her bedroom, her arm still wrapped around Shinji keeping him held up. She gently sat him down on the bed and pulled the covers away. She took her jacket off and looked at the blood staining her jacket, it was strange she didn't remember receiving the wound even when Leliel had linked her with Shinji she hadn't been injured then. From behind she heard Shinji muttering slightly.

"You're…injured…"

She snapped back at him. "Yeah I'm injured, it's nothing compared to what I've had before. Just shut up for a moment okay."

She took her shirt off and looked at the wound properly, it wasn't anything major. Quickly she grabbed set of bandages from her nightstand drawer and began wrapping them around the wound. As she did so she thought about what had just transpired. She had seen into Shinji's mind, she had seen parts of his innermost thoughts, she knew how he felt about her.

She had also seen that what Leliel had shown her, what he stated as the truth. Could it be true, that fighting the angels was pointless? That everything she had done up until now had been a waste of time and no matter what they did it was all going to be for nothing in the end?

If the rest of the Angels came and acquired what Leliel called 'Adam's DNA' then humanity would perish, yet if they succeeded and stopped the Angels SEELE would be able to carry out their scenario and would hand humanity over to the aliens. It couldn't be true, Leliel was an angel just like the others but he had helped her. He had helped get Shinji back, why would he show her all that if it was just a big lie and then why would he sacrifice himself to save them?

She finished wrapping them tightly and spoke out angrily. "There all better now."

She turned round to look at Shinji. He was still sitting up looking at her, his eyes watery. Asuka walked over to him and knelt down before him, not caring that she was half naked or that she too was now crying. Forcing the thoughts about what she had seen out of her mind she brought a hand up to his cheek and caressed it slowly.

"Next time, I won't forgive you."

He didn't reply, instead he just blinked a tear rolling gently down his cheek. She took her hand away and laid him down on the bed, putting the covers over him. His eyes closed gently, she knelt there for a few moments before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. She stood up slowly and went round to the other side of the bed and got in next to Shinji, she whispered good night into his ear and held onto him as she tried to get to sleep.


	19. Confrontation

_19__th__ July 2015_

**Asuka's Residence – 0730 hours**

Asuka's eyes opened slowly. She reached her arm out and was surprised when she felt it drop to the bed. Blinking, she sat up and found the bed was empty except for her. The side next to her was neatly made as well. She didn't understand, when she'd fallen asleep Shinji had been there. Could the whole thing, Leliel, the alien ship, the human instrumentality project have all been a dream? She looked at her arm, the injury she had sustained the night before was there still, neatly bandaged up.

She sighed, not quite sure how she should feel. It wasn't a dream anyway. What she had seen was indeed real but that wasn't really much of a comfort. There was also the slight matter of Shinji's location now. She wondered just how long ago it had been that he had gotten up and left.

She muttered to herself angrily "Least he made his side of the bed I guess…" she trailed off and looked around. There was nothing to indicate he had even been there, not even a note, "… could have left a note though."

She wasn't sure what to feel, disappointed maybe? Of course she was disappointed, she had risked her life going to somewhere she didn't know based on a hunch and something Kaji had told her to save him. She had let him share a bed with her and he had simply got up and left without making any contact.

Angered definitely. For the second time in two weeks he had left without saying anything and gone on his own. There was a slight scratching at her soul telling her that maybe it was her fault, the past few weeks hadn't exactly been easy, especially since _she _had kissed him and ran. She had performed the same act she was currently berating Shinji for doing, running away, except when she did it, it was far worse. She had done it after kissing him passionately. Not only had she run but she had slapped him and blamed him for it.

Could she really blame him for not wanting to be near her?

Then there was the way she had acted before Leliel. She'd gone behind his back, visiting the victim and investigating the case without even telling him. Her actions lead to his capture. If she hadn't gone behind his back he wouldn't have went after Leliel. No, surely she wasn't to blame for that. Sure she had wanted to get some credit for it, to try to satisfy her own ego by solving most, if not all of the case before anyone else got a chance to learn about it, but Shinji's actions were his own. He was a man and he had to take responsibility for his own decisions.

Finally there was the way she had acted after his capture, the way she spoke about him to his friends, to Ayanami and to Misato. That hadn't done her illustrious reputation any favours at all, all it had earned her was a slap from Katsuragi and the previously emotionless Ayanami arguing with her and angrily leaving the accommodation Asuka had offered her. Asuka had seen some of Shinji's thoughts when Leliel had connected their minds. Had Shinji seen some of hers? Had he seen the way she'd acted?

'_No, if he'd seen that he would have seen that I was there to help him…I did do the right thing…Didn't I?"_

She stood up and pulled on her dressing gown, before realizing she still had her trousers on from last night. She looked at the bed and saw the traces of sand and groaned. If there was one thing she hated it was being near sand and now she was going to be finding traces of it in her bed for weeks. She slipped the trousers off and exited the room, tying the dressing gown around her.

She began to make her way down the stairs when a familiar smell entered her nostrils. She sniffed around a bit trying to place it. Her stomach growled as it got stronger and she followed it down the stairs. The smell of fried bacon, eggs, sausage, everything you could wish for in a good breakfast. It smelled just as good if not better than the ones she had had back in Germany.

'_Least he had time to make breakfast for himself, could have offered me some though.'_

She frowned as she got to the foot of the stairs, not so much upset that he hadn't been in her bed when she'd woken up, but angry that he had left and used her kitchen. She entered the living room and jumped when there was a clatter from inside the kitchen. She heard a voice inside, cursing as she looked on in surprise.

'_Shinji?'_

Slowly she crept up to the door and sure enough Shinji was inside her kitchen, two plates were set out on the side. He was standing over the cooker looking over two frying pans. She smiled when she saw him, feeling relieved that he hadn't left and also that he was making her breakfast.

She stepped into the kitchen, resisting the urge to yell out as her bare feet touched the cold tiles. She stood by the work tops watching Shinji whilst simultaneously trying not to make any noise. He was stood watching everything in the pans intently. She continued sneaking up behind him up until she was right next to him, he turned and jumped slightly causing her to laugh out loudly.

"Sorry, I was just seeing what you were doing."

"Oh right."

"I thought you had already left, I woke up and you weren't there."

Shinji shifted uncomfortably as he replied, "I woke up about an hour ago, I couldn't really sleep too well so I came down here. I thought you might like breakfast when you woke up so I thought I'd make something."

There was a strange tension in the room, both of them fell silent not really sure what to say to each other. None of them wanted to talk about what had happened the night before, but then, there was nothing else to say. Shinji didn't even know what had happened when he'd woken up. He could remember Asuka rescuing him and helping him to wake up. He could remember being shown that fake future Spender and Leliel had conjured up and then being shown scenes of an invasion that Leliel had said was their true destiny.

He remembered waking up in a strange room, a laboratory, but it wasn't like anything he had seen, before being bundled into the back of a car. After that nothing, until he woke up lying next to Asuka, her arm's wrapped warmly around him, he had lay there for a few moments debating whether or not to wake her up, or to leave the house altogether. He was at the door and about to leave when he heard one word leaving her sleeping lips, one simple word that made him stop in his tracks and stay, _'Mother.'_

He watched Asuka as she went over to the table and sat down, smiling slightly.

"Thanks." she said

Shinji turned back round to the cooker and returned to watching over the food, turning over some of the items inside the pan. He continued watching for a few more moments before turning the cooker off and beginning to empty the contents of the pans onto the plates he had set out. He picked up the two plates, took them over to the table, and sat opposite Asuka. He watched her tentatively as she picked up her fork and placed a bit of bacon into her mouth.

Immediately she smiled at him,

"Wow I haven't tasted something this good since I was in Germany, I didn't know you could cook."

He smiled back,

"You sort of have to know how to cook when you live with Misato. It's not that she's bad, it's just you get fed up of takeaways all the time."

"I see, I wouldn't have been able to put up with it."

"It was fine, I didn't mind." Shinji waved it off. "Besides, cooking was one of the few things I enjoyed."

"Oh right, so what else don't I know about you?"

"Nothing really aside from the fact that I cook there isn't anything else."

"There must be something else."

He shook his head, "No there's nothing."

She felt herself starting to get slightly annoyed at his reluctance to say anything. She knew there must have been something else. "You really are boring aren't you, so besides cooking you have no other hobbies?"

"Well I…played the cello."

"Now we're getting somewhere, how long have you been playing?"

"I've been playing since about the age of ten, it was passed down to me by my uncle. It was the only thing I had left of my mother's."

Asuka lowered her eyes slightly when he mentioned his mother, she saw immediately it was a tough subject for him. She understood in a way, she had never spoken about her own mother to him or anyone else for that matter. Intrigued by the fact that he played an instrument she carried on, "Oh right, how come you said you played it?"

A hint of sadness flickered in his eyes, "I don't have it anymore...when those people came to my apartment and burnt it down it destroyed everything in there, including the cello."

Asuka couldn't help but feel like an idiot as an uncomfortable silence settled on the room. A minute ago they had been both fairly happy and in a good mood. Now the air of sadness and inevitability regarding what they learned last night had returned. They continued eating in silence until Asuka heard Shinji speaking again.

"It was the only thing I had left of her, that bastard took everything else. The photographs, the whole lot and then he abandoned me to live with my uncle. The only reason I got the cello was because my uncle kept hold of it when my mother left university and married my father."

For a moment it was almost as if Asuka could feel Shinji's anger, she looked across the table at him. He wasn't looking at her, instead he had his head down looking at the tiles she wasn't sure what to say or do. Something inside her made her want to go around the table and hold him, something else prevented her from doing so, her pride wouldn't let her drop her own emotions in front of him. She called across at him, unaware of how venomous her voice was.

"Shinji, snap out of it."

He looked up at her and spoke quietly, "Sorry, I didn't want to spoil the mood."

Who was he kidding, the mood was already spoiled from the moment she had encountered him in here. They were just skipping around subjects trying to avoid their true thoughts and Asuka was getting fed up with skipping around it.

"Shinji we need to talk about what we saw last night and what we know. We don't have to do it here we can do it at NERV."

"At NERV? I don't know if I want to go back in there yet…"

"You're acting like you have a choice, look I went through a lot to get you back. I know you saw how I acted as well and I'm not going to apologize for it."

Shinji nodded, "I know you're not…you were right. It was my fault..."

"You're not making this easier for me Shinji."

"But…" he started

"Shut up for a moment" Asuka cut him off, "Look Shinji, they don't really look to well on me at the moment there. Katsuragi is pissed with me and Ayanami…you know a few days ago she actually left here because of what I was saying? She actually got angry and left?"

There was a sly grin on her face when she said that. It was almost as if she was proud of the fact, yet at the same time incredibly embarrassed. Shinji couldn't help himself but laugh,

"You got Ayanami angry?"

"Yes I did, I don't really have a lot of friends there at the moment. So that's why you're coming in today. It's a matter of pride for me Shinji. I want to show them I went and got you back, I need to prove myself to them."

Shinji looked down slightly dejected, the way Asuka worded it, it sounded like she was just using him for her own gain. "I see."

Asuka picked up on his reaction immediately, she thought about what she had just said and the image of herself standing in some hole in the desert holding a big spade popped into her mind, "That didn't really sound good did it? Look I…I want to apologize for the way I acted, it wasn't right blaming you, but there's something else at NERV."

"What would that be?"

"NERV's Director…your father."

**Committee Meeting Room**

Lying was an art form, an art form that two of the people in the room had mastered. Gendo Ikari and Lorenz Keel, both seemingly on the same page yet both each having their own agenda's. In between the two of them sat the rest of SEELE or the committee. A committee led by Lorenz Keel but oblivious to his own plans, oblivious to what had happened between him and Leliel.

It wasn't really a meeting that they were sitting in it was more of a game between Gendo and Keel, a test to see who would mess up their words first, or who would mess up at all. It was almost like a game of chess, each one plotting out their next move waiting for the other to make a mistake. It was a test, the subject Shinji Ikari's encounter with the angel known as Leliel.

"Ikari," Keel intoned in a hacking, cancerous voice. "As you are probably aware, Leliel was terminated last night thanks to the efforts of Agents Ikari and Sohryu."

Lie number one from Keel, Gendo smiled slightly from behind his folded hands and responded casually.

"I was only made aware this morning chairman. I do not see why this meeting has been called however. As promised the Angel has been defeated, surely we should be focusing on the next one."

Gendo's face betrayed no emotion as he sat awaiting Keel's response. At the other end of the table, Keel too sat completely still, except for his withered lips, which were curled upwards into an arrogant smile.

"Indeed, there is just the matter of the location of your Agent Ikari for the past two weeks. It would seem you had several Agents out trying to locate him in an area where Leliel was suspected of being."

Keel was playing it dangerously, Gendo knew it, but he couldn't reveal his knowledge of what really happened. To do that would give Keel the opportunity to reveal the exact nature of the contact between Leliel and Agent Ikari. Calmly he responded smirking with his last comment and looking directly at Keel, "A temporary setback, we were able to locate Ikari. Sohryu tracked him down. It is believed he was lured out to the location by an accomplice of Leliel's."

Check.

Keel raised his eyebrows, he quickly fired back at Gendo. "So Leliel was indeed able to capture one of your Agents, a key part of the Evangelion project?"

"Yes."

"You are aware of what this could mean then, knowing full well what Leliel is capable of. Even though Leliel is gone his influence could still be within Agent Ikari."

Gendo looked Keel dead in the eyes, "I am aware, and I will be having Doctor Akagi look him over today for any lasting damage. It is our belief however that Leliel was acting under the influence of someone else."

Keel blinked.

"An Angel working for someone? Preposterous, what makes you believe such a thing?"

"We are still investigating this, as mentioned we know Leliel had an assailant, the reasons for which are unknown but it is this assailant who contacted Unit One and ensured he was in the precise place to be captured."

One of the other committee members entered the conversation between them with their own suggestion. "If you would allow us access to Unit One, we could get the information from him ourselves."

Keel interrupted him quickly, Gendo smiled at the committee members suggestion. "That won't be necessary we will leave the investigation in your hands Ikari. I want to make it clear however that you understand the penalty for lying to this committee."

"Oh I am aware chairman, and we will be investigating thoroughly into this incident to ensure it does not happen again."

**NERV Offices – 0915 hours**

"I don't know if I can do this Asuka…" Shinji mumbled.

"You're acting as if you have a choice," Asuka verbally pulled him along. "This is for your own good. If I don't force you to do it, no one else will. And you certainly won't do it by yourself."

"I know but…I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Well you have five minutes to _get_ ready. First we're going to our office and we'll inform Katsuragi that I was able to rescue you and I'll be told how great I am."

He raised his eyebrow slightly and questioned her, "Is praise all you want?"

"No, what I want is for you to confront your father. Nothing will boost my ego more than to see you confront him."

"I don't understand why."

"Because since that incident in that hospital when he was there and didn't even acknowledge you up until now, he's been fucking with both of us and you especially. You're his son and he won't even acknowledge you. So now we know where he is it's time we or I should say you, gave him what he deserved." She wasn't really too sure why she was helping him or forcing him to do this. A few months ago storming into the director's office would have been something she would never have done, she actually wanted to go somewhere in NERV. Now however was a different story, she wasn't just doing this for Shinji. She was doing it to satisfy her own ego, she was tired of being messed with and now she had an excuse to confront it.

"Ok so we go in there, then what?" Shinji questioned.

"I don't know," His comrade in arms demonstrated her true skill at planning missions. "I thought you could yell at him a bit, maybe punch him a few times."

She was smiling slightly, Shinji attempted to smile back but his voice had a more serious tone.

"Asuka please be serious." he said.

"I don't know right, all I know is doing this is for your own good."

"I'm not sure…" Shinji looked at his reflection in his black polished shoes.

"Look are you a man or what?" Soryhu huffed "He's fucked with us since our first case. You can't run away from him. You need to confront him…"

Asuka was cut off by another woman's voice from outside the elevator

"Are you two alright?"

Both Asuka and Shinji turned there heads and looked outside, neither of them had realized the elevator had come to a stop. Nor had they realized that their raised voices had attracted the attention of Misato, who had been waiting outside their Office.

Shinji and Misato locked eyes for a brief moment. For that moment there was no emotion, she just looked blankly at him, not sure whether or not to believe it was really him. She turned to Asuka who had stepped back slightly allowing them both room. Choking on her words she questioned Asuka.

"You…you brought him back?"

"Yeah, I did."

"What…how?"

"I don't know, I guess it's just how great I am." The redhead boasted, her chest swelling with pride.

Misato uttered something Asuka wasn't certain but she was pretty sure it was 'thank you'. That certainty lasted until sometime shortly after Misato had launched herself at Shinji and had begun hugging him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. Asuka smiled as she saw Shinji trying to catch his breath, the agent half smothered between the older woman's breasts. She casually placed her hand on Misato's shoulder and whispered to her.

"I hate to break this up but Shinji needs air, you're killing him."

Misato released her grip on Shinji and apologized, she turned to Asuka teary eyed and thanked her again. Asuka just nodded and waited for Misato say something else.

"What happened, how did you…?"

Shinji had been silent the whole time, he merely pointed at Asuka allowing her to explain.

"It's complicated, look we'll explain later. We were just coming down here for five minutes, we have a meeting with the Director."

Misato dried her eyes on her sleeves and looked at the two of them in confusion.

"What do you mean a meeting, Shinji's been back five minutes and you already have a meeting with the Director."

"Well it's always best to get things out the way, isn't that right Shinji?" Asuka prodded him with her elbow.

Shinji didn't respond he just nodded, fearful that if he opened his mouth he'd be sick all over both of them. He felt his fist clenching and unclenching behind his back as he thought about what was about to happen. Did he even want to see his father? It must have been over twenty years since they last spoke, yet his fathers influence was still there, manipulating him. He knew he had to do this he wanted to do it for himself and to somehow try to gain some measure of closure. Yet at the same time he wanted to run, he wanted to go back to Asuka's or Misato's and wait until another day.

"Is Kaji around today?"

"I haven't seen him yet, why?"

Asuka frowned slightly. She had wanted to thank him for telling her where to find Shinji. She had also wanted to know just how Kaji knew where to find him as well, she couldn't place it yet but there was something about her former guardian she couldn't place just yet. She knew he had frequent meetings with Director Ikari and that he knew a lot more than she did, but why would he feed the information down, for what purpose?

"No reason," Asuka dismissed it "If you see him, tell him I want to speak to him."

"I will, and Asuka…"

Asuka paused for a moment.

"…Thank you."

Misato turned from the elevator as Asuka pressed the button to go up, she turned to Shinji still smiling. The smile soon faded when she saw how pale he had become, she punched him hard in the arm causing him to shout out.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

"Stop being so frightened of him, you've had to apprehend telepaths, mutants and half spider things. He's nothing compared to those."

"Easy for you to say…"

'_No…it really isn't Shinji…' _she thought to herself. The rest of the journey continued in silence until they got to the floor they wanted. The lift doors opened and they stepped out into the main corridor. Directly opposite them was the door to the Director's office, She turned to Shinji.

"Ok, here we go. You know what you have to do right?"

"No."

"Well what do you want to do?"

Shinji felt his stomach churning, his words reflected those feelings "At the moment, be sick." he groaned.

"Be serious."

"I don't know, I don't know what to say to him. I don't even want to be here, why are you forcing me to do this?"

"For your own good, that's why."

She pushed him towards the door, hesitating he put his hand on the handle and opened it slowly entering. He looked around seeing not his father, but the very person who had helped him many weeks ago. The old man looked at both Shinji and Asuka in surprise and shouted towards them.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Shinji looked on stunned he didn't expect this, not at all, he struggled to find some words yet all he could do was say the name of the man who stood before them. "Fuyutsuki?"

"Ikari."

"Where is he?"

Fuyutsuki tried to feign ignorance, unfortunately for him he had never been too good at lying. "Who?"

"You know who, my father that's who."

"So Keel did tell you." The professor shrugged, not really to surprised, "Your father isn't here at the moment Shinji, he's out of Tokyo-3 in a meeting with the very man who orchestrated your capture, and several other important figures."

Asuka grumbled loudly, "SEELE…"

"Correct, you probably won't believe this Shinji, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, but your father is currently working to protect you from those very people."

"What do you mean protect me?" Shinji growled. "It's his fault this is happening."

"You don't understand Shinji, Keel cannot be trusted he is working for his own gain but he's also the chairman of SEELE. He was trying to turn you against NERV. We're the good guys Shinji."

"The good guys? You and my father are taking orders from SEELE, how can you be the good guys in this."

"That's true, I won't deny that fact but look…it's complicated. GEHIRN, the Evangelion project it was all funded by SEELE and as you now know, it was all done using alien technology. Your mother was involved in creating the serum that flows within you Shinji. Your father oversaw the project."

Asuka looked on stunned at what she had just heard, "His…mother is a part of this as well?"

Shinji turned around to her angrily, his voice had risen considerably. "Yes that's right before she was taken she was a part of the team who created the serum."

Asuka looked at Fuyutsuki and demanded more from him, "Who else was a part of this?"

He sighed. He wasn't going to get out of this easily. She was going to find out one way or another, "Your mother did as well, both Doctor Yui Ikari and Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu worked to help create the Evangelion serum."

The revelation hit Asuka like an eighteen wheeler, her own mother was involved. Her own mother had been in some way responsible for what had happened to her. She had known her mother was a scientist and had worked in Japan briefly but had no idea she had worked for GEHIRN. She looked at Fuyutsuki and then back to Shinji, for those moments no one spoke. She felt something burning in the back of her eyes and blinked it away before dashing out of the room. Shinji turned to go after her but Fuyutsuki's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Look this isn't going to be easy after all that's happened Shinji, but I need you to walk out of this office and forget what happened today. Shinji I want you to trust in your father, please, more will be made clear later, it's just… now isn't the time."

Shinji desperately wanted to say something, he wanted to stay there and wait, to ignore Fyutsuki's words and confront his father when he returned, but he couldn't. Shinji merely nodded, and stepped out of the room feeling like a bigger coward than he had when he went in there. He stepped outside and sighed, as he shut the door he felt Asuka's presence beside him. He looked her in the eyes, they were glistening with tears but she refused to let them fall. He reached out his hand for her shoulder but she shoved him away, he tried again only to have her shove him again this time more forcefully.

"Don't touch me." Asuka barked.

"Sorry I..."

"Don't apologize either."

Shinji watched her as she walked over to one of the seats and sat down, wiping her eyes slightly. When she caught him looking at her, she immediately looked away trying not to show him she was upset. She kept repeating to herself angrily in her mind, _'I'm not going to cry damnit, I'm not that weak.'_

Again, Shinji tried to go over to her and again she tried to shove him away. The German woman stood still for a moment unsure of what to do. Shinji wanted to help her, just like she had helped him before, but Asuka wasn't letting him near. How was he supposed to do anything if he couldn't even get near her? Shinji sat down opposite her, his back resting against the wall. Asuka looked at him oddly and spoke, her voice laced with venom.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you," The grey eyed Agent answered. "I'm not leaving you alone when you're like this."

She bit back quickly, "Why?"

He thought for a moment before replying, "Because you're upset, and because you tried to help me."

She didn't take his words too kindly, she knew he was trying to help but she hated looking like this. Her ego wanted him to go away and not feel sorry for her, yet at the same time she was glad he hadn't left.

"I'm not upset."

"Sure you're not."

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Asuka spat.

"You're not upset, just in the same way I didn't want to confront my father."

She looked at him and saw he was grinning. She smiled back at him and wiped her eyes again. "When did you become so happy about what I did, a minute ago you were about to throw up all over me."

He nodded, "I know. If you weren't there I would have ran away."

"So I was right then?"

"As usual, yes."

He stood up and moved over to her still unsure of what to do, he had never had to deal with this not even when Misato had broke it off with Kaji, he slowly put his arm around her and attempted to sit down. She looked at him oddly and questioned him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I…I'm just...I don't know."

She wasn't sure whether or not to call him an idiot or to admire him for trying, "If you're trying to make me feel better you're doing a rubbish job, sit down."

Shinji didn't really have a choice as she had already pulled him down to the seat, what she done next however surprised him. She took his arm and put it round her and rested her head on his shoulder. Shinji pulled her in a bit closer and put his other arm around her, again awkwardly, she sighed and took it round her.

"You really are rubbish at this, you know that."

"Do you feel better though?"

"Only because I'm laughing at how pathetic you are at hugging people."

Shinji grinned, he had finally caught her out, albeit unintentionally. "So you were upset?"

She looked up at him and realized she couldn't deny it anymore. "You…." She gave in and admitted it angrily, "…yes I was. There, are you happy now?"

He looked at her, it wasn't really going to plan when he tried it, he thought he was being slightly brave. Usually he would have ran or stood there in silence but he felt obligated to do this. "No, I'm not really doing a good job of this."

"I could have told you that, just keep going on the way you are I'll laugh at you a bit more and I'll feel better in minutes."

Shinji let go of her and looked at her dejected, "I'm only trying to help."

She took his arms and put them back around her, "I know…"

They sat in silence for a few more moments, Shinji holding Asuka and her tightly holding him. She looked up into his eyes and whispered to him, "Shinji…did you know?"

"About what?"

She paused before continuing, ready to just tell him to forget it, but she wanted to know. "About my mother…that she was somehow involved with this. That she was responsible for parts of Project Eva and the serum we were injected with?"

Shinji stopped, he had known. Keel had told him when he was in that false reality. He wasn't sure whether or not to believe it though, why should he have believed it. It could have just been another lie after all it didn't make much sense Asuka's mother being involved in it. Shinji didn't even know anything about Asuka's family, only that she was brought up in Germany. "Asuka…I, when I was in that other place when Keel and Leliel took me. Keel told me certain things about the serum he told me that the serum was developed by three scientists. My mother, Kyoko Sohryu, your mother and someone called Naoko Akagi. I didn't know if what he said was the truth though, otherwise I would have told you."

"Would you?"

"Yes I would."

That was all she needed, she lifted her head up and kissed him tenderly on the cheek before whispering to him again. "Thank you."

**Crime Scene – 1115 hours**

Gendo looked down at the dead body, it's skin a pale white, its arms punctured with various holes, each one oozing LCL. Slowly he kneeled down next to the body and removed a small test tube from his jacket pocket along with a small pair of steel tweezers. He looked around making sure no one was nearby and inserted the tweezers into the hole in the victims arm. He withdrew them and smirked. Impaled on the end was a dense black slime. He observed it for a few moments watching as it seemed to squirm on the end of his instrument. He placed it in the test tube and closed the end quickly watching as the black slime moved up and down the tube desperately, almost as if it wanted to escape.

Watching it move around almost sickened him. That thing wasn't living it was just existing, existing to feed from one body to another until it either died or simply ran out of food. It was perhaps the one part of the Angel Project he truly feared, just because it was the only thing that was never human.

He slipped the test tube into his pocked and snapped on a pair of gloves, looking around the body again. He rummaged inside one of the pockets and pulled out a cell phone, with it was a sheet of paper with a number hastily scribbled across it. He took his own cell phone and dialed a number.

"Fuyutsuki, we have a problem."

"_Yes I know I've just had Shinji and Asuka in here. They know about you, and they know about the serum and its creators."_

"I see, so our fears have been confirmed. I do not know what Keel is planning. I want you to have Kaji look into it, I will be returning to NERV soon with Dr Akagi."

"_I see, what of the scene?"_

"Just as we suspected, it's Bardiel."

There was a pause, after which Fuyutsuki responded. _"God help us."_

"Indeed."

Gendo closed the cell phone and stood up just in time to be greeted by Ritsuko, she looked down at the body and then to him. She didn't need to ask to know the severity of the situation.

"Bardiel?"

"Yes."

"Do we have a sample of it?"

"Yes, alive for how long I don't know. It's looking for another host though, luckily it left this behind."

He handed her the piece of paper with the cell phone number wrote on it, and dialed it into her own phone. It rang for a few times before going onto an answering machine message. As it voice spoke she felt something strange, almost as if she recognized the voice. Gendo noticed her expression immediately and questioned her.

"What's wrong?"

"This voice…I recognize it."

"Who is it?"

She pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up, before speaking the name quietly, "Shinji's friend, Touji Suzahara."

Gendo thought for a moment, this changed quite a lot. Suzahara was involved. He was a friend of Shinji's. "Ritsuko, I want you to run a trace on that number, make sure it is Suzahara. If it is I will want Katsuragi and Ayanami on surveillance of his residence. I will inform Shinji and Sohryu myself of this angel."

"Inform them yourself?"

"Yes, this is unlike anything they have encountered. I also want you to prepare the dummy plug."


	20. Skin Of Evil

_20__th__ July 2015_

**Morgue – 1030 hours**

Hikari turned off the recording machine and looked across at the body she had just examined. She still couldn't understand it, aside from the three puncture marks on the man's arm there was nothing else that could have killed him. Even then the puncture marks weren't deep enough to cause any serious harm. The only thing that she had found were trace amounts of a thick black liquid.

She got up from her seat just in time to see Asuka and Shinji walking into the room. She went over and greeted them both.

"Hi, hope you two don't mind me calling you here."

"No trouble," Asuka dismissed it. Beside's we already owe you one for that unofficial autopsy you did for us. What's the problem anyway?"

"We got a body in late last night, eyewitness reports said the guy went insane in a local shopping center. He killed several people and left quite a mess. Anyway, after this trail of destruction the guy seemed to just drop down stone dead. The body was brought in and identified and I performed the autopsy."

"Who is the guy?" Sorhyu questioned.

"Ichiro Sato, a nineteen year old student. No history of violence, pretty typical straight A sort of student. Kept to himself and as you can see, he doesn't really look like he was the type to destroy a section of a shopping mall."

"When you say 'destroyed', what exactly are you referring to?" Shinji queried.

"Eye witness reports say he showed almost superhuman strength," Doctor Horaki answered. "Picking people up and throwing them across the room. He was even able to choke the life out of someone with no effort at all."

Asuka looked at her oddly, not really believing it. "One kid was able to do all that?"

"That's what the reports say. I had them send the security camera footage your way. I hope you don't mind, it just seemed like something you two would be interested in."

Asuka and Shinji exchanged glances. While it was true they would normally have been interested in something like this, both of them had other things on their minds. Still, it was their job to investigate this sort of thing so they couldn't really disagree. Shinji shook his head and replied, "Its fine, we weren't working on anything at the moment."

Hikari continued explaining the details, "Anyway he went on his rampage and then he just dropped dead. I performed the autopsy and can't find any explanation for it. The guy was in perfect health otherwise."

Asuka questioned her, "Any history of mental illness?"

Hikari shook her head, "No nothing, police are interviewing his friends and people who knew him but, like I said, so far nothings come up."

Asuka continued, "So did you find anything?"

"Well there was something, on the person's arm. I found three small puncture wounds. There was some sort of liquid in it, at first I thought it might have been LCL but it was darker than that."

This instantly caught both Asuka and Shinji's interest. They both let Hikari show them the wounds on the body, Asuka looked first. Just as Hikari had said there were three small wounds on the arm and what seems to be an LCL-like liquid leaking out of it.

"Interesting, could you excuse us for a minute Hikari?"

"Sure."

Asuka turned to Shinji and spoke quietly, "What do you think?"

He looked at the LCL again, "Not sure, it looks like LCL and by the sounds of things it could be an angel, doesn't make any sense though why would the Angel just die so suddenly?"

"I guess that's what we have to figure out, I'll get Hikari to run some tests on it to make sure it is LCL. We'll contact Katsuragi and Kaji, Kaji knows about the conspiracy and maybe he could shed some light on it."

"Kaji knows?"

"He told me where to find the alien craft you were being held in, even if he doesn't know about the full conspiracy, he still knows something."

"He knows my father."

"Yes it looks like it, but he's on our side."

Shinji eyed her suspiciously, "How can you be sure?"

She snapped back at him, "I just am alright, I lived with the guy, we can trust him."

Hikari raised her eyebrows when she heard Asuka snapping at Shinji, she went over to them and questioned them. "Are you two alright?"

Asuka sighed and turned to her, "It's nothing just a…disagreement that's all. Look can you run so…"

She trailed off as her cell phone began to ring, it was Misato. She apologized to Hikari and answered the call.

"Sohryu here."

"_The case you and Shinji left to investigate, I heard the message from Agent Horaki, there's been another incident, Rei is waiting for you outside I want all three of you to make your way down there immediately."_

**  
Crime Scene – 1230 hours**

"What the hell could have caused this?"

Even though Shinji had said it, it was the question on all three of their minds. The store was a complete mess. Even Rei couldn't hide her shock at what had happened. There was a huge hole in the wall at the back of the store, from where something seemed to have been thrown through it. There were at least fifteen dead in the store, their blood splattered the walls and the floor. All the items on the shelves were scattered around making it near impossible to move easily.

Asuka knelt down next to one of the bodies and examined it curiously. It was near identical to the body they had looked at in the morgue earlier. The same puncture marks on the arm with LCL leaking from each one. Asuka looked in a bit closer and turned to Shinji, calling him over.

"Shinji, take a look at this…same deal as last time."

"Is he responsible for all this?"

"I don't know, but he has the same three puncture marks as the last person. There seems to be some LCL leaking from it but it's murkier and denser than what we've seen before."

Shinji lifted up the arm and looked at the puncture marks, he jumped suddenly taking Asuka down with him. She sat up and glared death at him, he turned to her apologizing profusely.

"Sorry."

"So you should be, what were you playing at?"

He pointed at the arm he had been looking at before she jumped and immediately saw what had caused the reaction. Moving around in one of the wounds was a black liquid. It seemed to be pushing its way out of the wound where it leaked out as the denser LCL.

Asuka spoke. "Is that LCL?"

Shinji replied cautiously watching the LCL, "I'm not sure, it seems to be…I don't know. It's acting like its alive."

She was tempted to ridicule him, but the more she looked at it the more she could see that he was right, it did seem to be moving and acting as if it was trying to flee. It picked up speed seemingly trying to escape. Asuka quickly took out a sampling kit and captured the liquid in a test tube. She turned to Ayanami who was keeping a distance from the liquid.

"Ayanami, what do you know about this?"

Rei was obviously frightened, although it was different to how she had seemed before. This wasn't some small childhood fear of spiders that Asuka teased her about, this was complete fear. The very sight of it made her not only scared for herself but for everyone around her. Her fear was evident with the way she spoke,

"It's dangerous we can't let it near us." she said.

"What is it?"

Rei didn't respond, Asuka and Shinji weren't sure if this was because she was frightened or because she felt she couldn't. Asuka asked again, sounding more agitated.

"Look we already know about the Angels and what they are, is this the work of another one. What happens if we get this…" Asuka struggled for a word to describe it, black goo just didn't seem to be a very good fit at the moment. She looked again at the other area around the wound and how the liquid fades into a murkier LCL and finally found a name for it, "…this Black LCL on us?"

"It's not a normal angel, it wasn't created the sa…"

She trailed off when she felt a pain shoot through her stomach, both Asuka and Shinji looked at her oddly, awaiting her next words. Rei opened her mouth to speak but closed it again when she felt another pain shoot through her. Shinji stood up and went over to her putting his arm around her, "Ayanami are you feeling alright?"

She pushed him away and turned from him, trying to run out of the store but before she was able to get to the exit she felt another sharp pain shoot through her. This time she bent over throwing up pure LCL. She felt herself growing dizzier as she heaved again vomiting up the rest of the contents of her stomach. She stopped vomiting and dropped to her knees but the pain continued to shoot through her, both Asuka and Shinji shot each other concerned glances and ran over to her.

Asuka helped Shinji get her up and move her away, as they lay her down they could hear Rei apologizing as a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away as they tried to console her.

"Its fine, what happened?"

Rei pointed at the body and the black liquid and spoke quietly, "That did."

Asuka looked at her oddly and then to the test tube on the floor near the body with the black LCL in it, "You mean this is what caused that?"

Rei nodded and apologized again, "Yes, I'm sorry."

"It's alright Rei, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe it might be best if you waited outside and got a bit of fresh air."

"I will, sorry."

Rei stood up and walked out of the store as quickly as she could. Shinji looked over at the LCL Rei had thrown up and felt a surge of nausea in his own stomach. Asuka quickly noticed this and brought his focus back to her.

"You'd better not do that as well, it's disgusting."

"Sorry, not really a sight I wanted to see first thing of the morning though."

"Same, lets just focus on getting this body looked at. I want to know more about this Black LCL."

Shinji stopped and thought for a moment, before looking at the body and the scene around him. Also taking into account the body from earlier he tried to think of some sort of explanation. The Black LCL seemed to be alive, if only at a basic level it seemed to live just to survive. If he combined that with what Rei had said but them not going near it, then maybe it was alive.

"It could a parasite." Shinji theorized.

"What?"

"Take a look at the Black LCL again and then look at the wounds on the body. They are identical to the wounds on the body found in the morgue yes?"

She looked at the LCL again shifting uncomfortable as it moved around, "Well yes I understand that but how can a liquid be parasitic?"

"I don't know, but it fits doesn't it? I mean its present in both the bodies so far and Ayanami said it was dangerous maybe that's because if we let it on us it'll infect us "

"Makes sense I guess, but if that's the case then where is the rest of it? Have we captured it? Is it dead because its host is dead?"

"It'll be looking for a suitable host. Or it might already have one." something about that worried Shinji, but he shook it off and continued. " It'll feast on the host enough for it to be able to survive to the next host, leaving behind a small part of itself in the host each time."

Asuka nodded, surprised at Shinji's explanation. It seemed to make sense. "Right, so we need to find the symbiote and destroy or capture it."

"Maybe, if we kill the host before the symbiote finishes feeding then maybe that will die as well."

"I see, since when were you an expert on parasites anyway?"

"I'm not, I just watch a lot of Sci Fi shows."

Sounding agitated she responded, "Well that's convenient, so you're basing your guess on something from an episode of Star Trek."

"Stargate SG1 actually but there was an episode of Star Trek once with a black liquid that had sentience."

"I don't care about that. You do know that shit's not real Shinji?" Asuka scowled at her colleagues fanboyishness. "Can we just focus on this, you can tell me about your sci fi collection some time later."

"Sorry." Shinji's eyes wandered back over to where Rei had been ill, though he felt Asuka psychically pulling his face back to look at her.

"I told you I don't want you being ill as well, especially right beside me."

"I'm not going to be sick," Shinji mumbled. "I'm just wondering if Rei's reaction was because of the black LCL."

"She looked to be afraid of it," Asuka remarked. "But I didn't think she'd throw up because of it."

"I don't mean that. I mean the black LCL actually caused the reaction. It wasn't because she was scared, it seemed to be because she was close to it, possibly because of the serum."

"I see what you mean. It _is_ possible, but if that's the case, why aren't we heaving our guts up right now?" She paused for a moment before continuing, "Unless, I think Rei has a higher concentration of it than us, I mean she threw up what looks like pure LCL."

"Thanks for the thought."

"No problem, but look at us we're fine aren't we? Last time just after we had been injected, you fell ill in that alleyway and threw up LCL."

He murmured in embarrassment, "Thanks for reminding me."

"And I…when I was on the 'Over the Rainbow' I…" She paused for a moment trying to bring herself to say it, she hated being ill it made her look weak and the 'Over The Rainbow' incident was something she had wanted to forget "…Well I wasn't feeling too good myself."

"Even so why would she have a higher concentration of serum in her though, it's not like she needs it."

"I don't know but our dosage is the same. We were injected once and have had nothing since then. She was injected long before us. When you first encountered her she was showing signs of the serum and she knows your father."

Asuka trailed off immediately cursing herself at letting those words out, she didn't mean to tell Shinji that or at least not just yet, much to her surprise though he just looked at her smiling.

"I already know she does, she hasn't told me anything though."

Relieved somewhat she kept going, "Well it makes sense then she's been given a higher dosage, that's why her reaction was stronger to this. How are you feeling right now?"

Puzzled he looked at her, "I'm fine I guess, I have a bit of a headache but that's probably because of what happened before."

"We should ask her about it, I'm sick of her telling us things when its convenient. What if one of us died but she could have prevented it by saying something."

Shinji thought about it for a moment he thought maybe she was right but he knew Ayanami wouldn't let something like that happen. "I think if our lives were at risk she wouldn't hold anything back, give her a bit more credit than that."

Asuka shrugged off his defense of Rei, "Look we need to ask her more, she knows more then she's letting on."

"I know that but we can't say anything right now…"

"Why not?"

"Because she's upset and probably embarrassed at what happened."

She sighed and gave in, "Oh right fine, we'll let her have her third emotion and calm down but then I want more information from her."

"Right, I'm sure she'll appreciate it and tell us what we want to know."

"She'll appreciate it? Don't get the wrong idea I'm not doing this for her."

Shinji wasn't sure how to take this, after Leliel he felt he knew Asuka a bit better but there were still things he wasn't sure about. The way she made decisions and acted still confused him, he questioned her "Who are you doing it for, yourself?"

"No, for once I'm not. I'm doing this for you Shinji. If you didn't ask me to wait I would have went out there myself and asked her."

**Stooges Residence – 1420 hours**

"Touji, there's a car outside."

Touji sighed and got up from his seat, he wandered over to the window where Kensuke was looking out. Just as he had said there was a dark blue estate car parked directly across from the apartment block. Touji shrugged and went back over to his seat, Kensuke stopped him as he was halfway across the room.

"Well don't you think it's a bit strange?"

Kensuke was in one of his conspiracy moods, he had been since Shinji had asked them to help with Leliel and what a load of good that turned out to be. Every day Kensuke had come up with different theories or gotten slightly more paranoid with nearly everything he saw.

"Why would I think it's strange?"

"Well it's been parked there for a few hours that's all and I'm sure I saw it there last night as well."

"Is there anyone inside the car?"

Kensuke looked out the window again trying to see if there was anyone inside the car. He couldn't see in clearly. "I don't know, I can't see anyone."

"Well maybe they live there then. Kensuke you need to stop being so paranoid man, you've been worrying about every little thing since Shinji got back."

"Well don't you find it a bit strange that nothing has happened?"

"Like what? The only thing I find strange is that Shinji has spent time with the red devil since he got back. If I was him I would have told her where to go even if she did 'rescue' him."

"Well there is that, but you know what I mean. We know things we shouldn't, we know about the angels now we nearly encountered one and then there was that alien ship we saw. They're going to be watching us I'm telling you."

"So what do you propose we do then?"

"Well if they _are_ watching us we can't let them know we know, so we should act as we would normally."

Touji grinned slightly, normal for Kensuke was pretty much how he was acting now, "Is this your definition of normal or a normal person's definition?"

"Very funny Touji, you know what I mean by normal. We can't let them latch on."

"Well in that case come away from the window, if they are watching us they're going to know by you sticking your head out there. Besides you're scaring all the people that go past."

**Stooges Apartment Exterior. – 1425 hours**

Kaji kept his eyes on the window, he smiled slightly when he saw the figure move away from it and turned to Misato, "He's finally stopped looking out the window, you know don't take this the wrong way but Shinji's friend Kensuke is an…"

Misato finished his sentence for him, she too was smiling "Idiot?"

He nodded "Yes…"

"They're good lads, Kensukes just a bit…unusual. It's sort of ironic though, as weird as those two are, and how others perceive them, calling them idiots and paranoid's for their beliefs about aliens and government conspiracies, they are right."

"Funny that."

She turned serious for a moment, "Did he discover us?"

Kaji shook his head, "No he was looking at the blue car opposite the apartment block."

"Doesn't that belong to the family that lives in one of the apartments?"

"Yup."

She thought for a moment surprised at that, surely Kensuke of all people would have looked for a black Mercedes. After all it was the stereotype for government vehicles in all good Science Fiction shows. Even she knew that since, while Shinji'd grown up, she's watched a lot of science fiction shows with him.

"Oh well, doesn't he know that NERV Agents only observe in black cars like this one?"

"Apparently not."

She laughed again then yawned, they had only been there for an hour and she was already beginning to grow tired of it. She hated tasks like this, much preferring to be out working in the field like Shinji and Asuka got to, still at least it beat doing paperwork and she was glad she had Kaji beside her.

She kept on telling herself she was an idiot for letting him near her, for letting him back into her life so easily. At the same time she was telling herself that throwing him out all those years ago was one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made. The truth was she needed him to be there, to help her, to make her feel like she was worth something. It wasn't about the fact she could get his help at work or that he knew about the conspiracy. None of that mattered, he made her feel like she was worth something. He made her feel like she truly existed, it was a feeling she didn't even get when she became Shinji's guardian.

She needed to feel that at that moment, so much was happening. Shinji had chosen to stay with Asuka since he returned. It had only been two days but he had already taken some of his stuff there, Misato was happy for them, she told herself. Asuka may have said some bad things about Shinji when he was missing, but her actions outweighed that. In some ways though Misato felt Asuka was right about Shinji, he did act recklessly, going after Leliel on his own and, although she didn't think he deserved it, there was a part of her that wanted to hit him for being such an idiot.

Finally there were the Angels. There was no emotion for her to feel about this. Only numbness, what else was there to feel when you learn everything you have done has been for nothing? Or everything you have done has been guided and constructed by a higher force and, no matter what you do it'll end at the same conclusion? She couldn't even react to it, Shinji had told her about it. About the planned invasion, about what Leliel had shown them and that it was unavoidable. Misato was numb to it, she didn't want to be but she was. She wanted to cry out, to hit something but all she did was sit as they spoke about it all coming to the same conclusion, that they would try their best to change it somehow. That was when she needed Kaji, there were no words exchanged between them just an instant understanding.

Her tone changed, "Kaji, why are we doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Watching Shinji's friend's place. Leliel is dead and we've received no other indication that they could be in danger. It just seems a bit out of the blue that's all."

"There was…an incident last night. A new angel arrived."

"A new angel? You mean you knew about this but didn't tell me? Or Shinji or Asuka? they're the ones who are supposed to be hunting these so called Angels."

"It's slightly more complicated than that, I have to choose my words carefully Katsuragi. I can't tell you everything I know as soon as I get it. If I did I'd be killed."

Misato was ready to retaliate. She had the words on the tip of her tongue but stopped herself when she heard his last words. He would be killed if he revealed everything, could it have been true? Or was it just another lie, another fabrication to stop her from prying further into it.

"Then what can you tell me, what does this angel have to do with Shinji's friend Kaji?"

"This Angel, it isn't like the others."

"That doesn't make any sense, none of the Angels have been like the others."

"That's correct but at the same time it's incorrect. Look what are the Angels? What do you understand them to be?"

"They're genetically altered humans, altered using alien DNA in a government experiment to produce super soldiers."

Kaji nodded, "Right which means all the Angels were once human."

"That's what you told me and it's what seems to have been confirmed by Shinji and Asuka's investigation."

"Right well there was one Angel, its name is Bardiel and it isn't human. It never has been"

She shot him a confused glance, "You mean it's one of the aliens?"

"No," Kai shook his head. "It was created as a part of the Angel project, as a special side project if you will. A late addition to the project and probably the biggest mistake they made."

Again Misato remained confused, "If this is their biggest mistake then why haven't they done something about it until now?"

"Arrogance it seems. They wouldn't admit it was a mistake and waited until someone else would handle the task, in this case the Evangelions."

She sighed, "Shinji you mean."

"Along with Ayanami and Sohryu, those three stand between the Angels and humanity's destruction."

Misato frowned, she already knew what would happen. Shinji had already told her, Asuka had backed up his story and Kaji had been there to listen to it and confirm it.

'_Of course if they succeed in defeating the Angels, SEELE will initialize the human instrumentality project and just hand us over to the aliens.'_

There was still something she didn't understand though. What would happen if the angels won? The initial impression she got is that it would be bad but no one had said how bad. Even then though SEELE had the power to contact the aliens, why couldn't they initialize the project when they wanted instead of having to destroy the Angels?

"Kaji, why are we fighting the Angels?"

"I don't follow you?"

"SEELE are the ones who want us to fight and kill the angels so they can initialize the project, but we keep on killing the Angels. What will happen if they win? Why do they want Adams DNA so much, is it related to the impact incident?"

"I don't know, I haven't questioned it before. All I do know is that if an Angel comes into contact with Adam in any form it will have a catastrophic effect on a wider scale than the impact incident. We don't have any choice in what we do Misato."

"I know but…I just wish we could do something. I don't want to believe that there's nothing we can do it's just…"

He leaned across and kissed her, she kissed him back and felt his hand moving round to her jacket. She looked at him oddly but kept the kiss going, he pulled away and whispered. "We can do something, there are others like us. They're trying to find a way to stop it. They just need time, and for people to believe in them."

"I want to believe, but I just…"

**NERV Offices – 2030 hours**

Shinji quickly moved towards the door, wondering just why he had been called there. Asuka had told him it was urgent but when he'd asked for more information she'd just hung up. That wasn't like her, the only thing it could have meant is that she was in some sort of trouble, but at NERV what could happen?

He opened the door to the office and stepped inside only to have Asuka greet him, blocking his view of the rest of the room. There was a panicked expression on her face yet almost as if she didn't want Shinji to see what was there. Shinji looked behind her and saw the others in the room, Ayanami, Ritsuko and him. Now Shinji understood that was what Asuka didn't want him to see. Shinji blinked, trying to make sure it wasn't some sort of illusion, it wasn't. He spoke not even attempting to hide his distaste. "You…"

Shinji almost couldn't believe it, standing only a couple of meters in front of him was the man responsible for this. The same man who had controlled him from the beginning, the man who had abandoned him, his own father, Gendo Ikari. Shinji felt Asuka grab hold of him almost as if she was trying to restrain him, or catch him if he fainted. Shinji wasn't sure what he wanted to do, whether he should run over and punch the man, shout at him for some sort of explanation or collapse. His legs seemed to be opting for the latter option at this moment in time.

Gendo stood still, his eyes fixed on the two Agents in front of him and his demeanor the same as always. "Shinji…"

Shinji tried to find some words, anything to say. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Asuka spoke for him. "What are you doing here?"

"The Angel has made its presence known."

Again Asuka spoke for Shinji she almost seemed to be channeling his rage, "That doesn't explain anything, if there's an Angel you could have done what you always do and just handed us down some stupid tip off, why are you here?"

He spoke his voice stern towards the redhead, "Don't forget who I am, Sohryu. I am your superior. Do not question my decisions."

This time Shinji did manage to find the words to say and was able to speak, "She's right, what the hell are you doing here? Is this just another of your ploys, you make yourself known and then disappear again? Or is it something else, why is this so important that you need to make yourself known?"

"Because there is no one else here capable of leading this mission."

Shinji snapped back, his voice raised, "There's no one else capable, what about Katsuragi? She's more than capable, more so than you, at least she won't abandon people."

"Katsuragi has already engaged the Angel and failed, she is incapable of leading this. You can always of course give up and turn away if you do not want to do this."

"I don't believe you, why would she have engaged it. She knows what they are, you're lying."

"So you choose not to believe me, that is a shame. I would however advise you consult your fellow Agents before accusing me of such things, you might be surprised."

Shinji was about to reply back when he felt Asuka pushing him out of the room, she closed the door behind her and looked at him, a mix between concern and anger on her face.

"He's telling the truth, Misato…the Angel, you were right it's a parasite but it has an agenda. It wants revenge on us for killing its brethren. Your father was at the first crime scene last night and he found a phone number the Angel had. The Angel's current victim, he had Kaji and Misato watching them all day."

"I don't care what he told you, he's lying to us Asuka."

"No he's not, we had a call from Misato she said she was in trouble and she gave us the location and the name of the person Bardiel infected."

"Is she alright? Who was the victim?"

"She said she was alright for now but look the victim…"

"What about him?"

"It's your friend…Touji Suzahara."

**Abandoned Factory - 2100**

Both cars pulled up out side the factory, both Shinji and Asuka got out of theirs, quickly followed by Gendo, Ritsuko and Ayanami. From inside they could hear the sound of gunfire, Shinji withdrew his own gun and was about to run into the factory when Ritsuko stopped him.

"Wait, don't go in just yet."

Shinji shouted back at her, "Why not, Misato and Touji are in there, I can't just sit back and let them die."

The air around them was heavy with the smell of smoke, a quick glance at the factory explained the source. Part of it had gone up in flames, presumably from the gun fight between Misato and Bardiel. There was a loud smash as one of the windows on the ground floor suddenly smashed as someone was sent flying through it. Ritsuko and Shinji quickly ran over towards the body to find it was Misato who had been sent flying through it.

"She's unconscious." Ritsuko raised Misato's arm and glanced over it, "There's no signs of infection from the parasite though."

Shinji looked up to see what had caused this, the sight of it made everything suddenly slow down. There he was, only he couldn't be called a person anymore but Shinji could still see the traces of him underneath. The angel, Bardiel had completely infected Touji, mutated him. The thick black liquid covered most of the body and had transformed it into a grotesque form, yet Shinji could still see traces of humanity, no matter how small they were. How could he go in there, how could he kill his own friend, it wasn't an Angel it was Touji. Touji wasn't even a part of this, he was innocent why did he have to be brought into it like this.

He stepped back feeling his hand throw his gun to the floor, he uttered meekly.

"I…I can't do this."

No one was there to hear him, he watched on frozen to the spot as Bardiel made his way out of the factory. He watched on as Ritsuko attempted to get Misato to a safe place and his father shouted orders to him, Ayanami and Asuka. He couldn't hear the orders though, all he could hear was the sound of the creature roaring and screaming out, screams of pain as the host warred with the parasite infecting it.

From the corner of his eye he saw Asuka and Rei moving past him, Asuka stopped to shout something at him but he couldn't hear anything. Then everything returned to normal again, all the sound was there, his focus returned. He still couldn't move unsure of what to do, both Ayanami and Asuka brought out their handguns and fired at Bardiel. Asuka hesitating at first, after each shot she looked at Shinji.

None of the shots mattered though, each one was blocked by the Angel's A.T. Field, Rei ran forward towards it, only to have her self thrown back by its A.T. Field. She landed with a sickening thud on the ground and screamed out in pain only to get up immediately and try to dash towards Bardiel again. This time there was no A.T. Field, instead Bardiel raised one of its arms towards her and grabbed her by the throat, the black liquid acting as an extension to the arm.

It effortlessly threw Rei back like an albino rag doll, dashing her limp body against a concrete wall. This time she didn't get up, this time it was serious. Shinji felt himself moving towards her. He knelt down beside her and looked at her, she was wounded badly. Blood was pouring from a wound on her head and she was bleeding from the mouth. Again he looked up towards Bardiel, this time Asuka tried to engage it. It held her up this time choking the life out of her and turned to look directly at Shinji. It didn't speak, it didn't growl or scream, it just looked at him through those burning hate filled eyes. Those eyes that had once belonged to his best friend, it taunted him using his friends. It was forcing him to do those things, forcing him to choke and kill Asuka. Yet Shinji felt himself unable to do anything but watch.

"What are you waiting for Shinji?"

He felt his father's eyes burning into the back of his skull as he spoke back weakly, "I…I can't do it, I won't fight it…I can't."

"You have to fight it, if you don't we will all be destroyed."

"I can't…he's…its Touji…my friend."

"That's not your friend anymore, it's an Angel. Defeat it."

"No I can't."

He heard Asuka land next to him with the same sickening thud Rei had, he turned around to look at her. Her entire throat was bruised and she was coughing up blood, he then saw Bardiel coming towards him. This was it, he couldn't fight back this was the end, even if he wanted to his body wouldn't let him.

His father shouted toward him again, "Shinji what are you waiting for? Fight it! That's your purpose Agent, to defeat the Angels."

It was too late Bardiel was already next to him, Shinji stood up and let Bardiel punch him, sending him flying back. He staggered for a bit before crumpling in a heap in front of Gendo and Ritsuko.

Gendo turned and whispered to Ritsuko, Shinji lay still not wanting to get up then he felt Ritsuko hovering over him. He felt her kneel down and inject something into to the back of his neck and then she apologized to him. He wondered what she was apologizing for and then everything faded a bit. Something was happening to him.

He felt something inside him, something building up, almost as if there were two people inside him. One of which was him Shinji Ikari the person the other was something else, he was aware of this other more dominant presence as he stood up. He turned towards Bardiel and felt something inside him, rage building up at the Angel the entity which had took control of his friend. Soon that other part of him, the original Shinji Ikari was gone, in a white hot flash he felt himself running towards Bardiel.

He didn't want to be doing this, he knew he didn't but it didn't stop him, there was nothing around him anymore except for him and the Angel. This wasn't him, it was the serum inside him, it was what his father had made him. He paused for a moment trying to fight against it but it was useless, he wanted to destroy it he forced his arm to rise up, forced his fist to fly towards Bardiel and sent it staggering back.

Bardiel fought back, it wrapped one of its long black tentacle-like arms around his throat. It increased its grip, Shinji could feel it choking him. He raised one of his own hands and reached towards the Angels throat and began squeezing tightly. Bardiel released Shinji's body and he felt it drop to the floor with a thud, he still had no control over it. He could feel everything, the pain from landing, the pain from being choked, yet he could do nothing about it.

Shinji felt his body lunge again towards Bardiel, it picked it up and delivered a blow to the stomach and quickly followed up with a knee dropping Bardiel to its knees. He felt his hand draw back and then swiftly move forwards again, delivering a sickening blow to the face of Bardiel. Again and again he kept on delivering punches, he didn't care where. The stomach, the face, the throat, everywhere was a target for him, just as long as he destroyed whatever it was that had taken over Touji.

In the back of his mind he could feel his own consciousness shouting back at him,_ "No please, please stop this. Please stop this."_

Shinji felt his body stand up, was that it? Maybe it was over, maybe the torture was over maybe Bardiel was finally defeated. He could feel the rage subside, the movement in his body, it was his again. Whatever had been injected into him was wearing off, he looked at his own hands on horror. There was blood trickling down them, it wasn't his own blood but the blood of the Angel, of his friend. He moved away from the body, that was if he had killed, if there was nothing more. He whimpered slightly, his voice building up as he shouted towards his father.

"What…What have I done…What did you make me do father…"

Gendo's reply came it was unsympathetic and cold, "It had to be done Shinji, you know that."

"Not like this it didn't, we could have found a better way. An easier way…we didn't…I didn't…"

Shinji felt one of Bardiel's hands reach up and grab his own, the one that was holding and aiming the gun. Slowly the Angel began to speak, only it wasn't Bardiel it was Touji.

"Shinji…it wasn't…your fault…"

"Touji, I…"

"It's dying Shinji, please you need to finish the job. If you don't it'll regenerate…"

"I can't…I just…"

"Please, it's the only way…"

He felt the grip on his wrist tighten as Touji guided Shinjis aim towards his heart. Shinji's mouth went dry as he closed his eyes. He couldn't do it, he had done enough, why wasn't it over yet? He felt his finger tighten, was it Eva resurfacing this time…or was it him. No it was him, he had to do this.

"Please Shinji…I can't live like this. It's already used my body for killing people, it needs to be stopped."

"Touji, I'm…I'm sorry."

A loud bang echoing throughout the distance, Shinji had never known the sound of gun fire could be so loud. He dropped the handgun and staggered back, his head spinning with the thought of what he had just done. Around him he could make out shapes, figures, people, one of them was moving towards him. He couldn't make out who they were, all he could feel was them holding out there arms as he collapsed into them.


	21. Spare Bricks

_22nd July 2015  
_**Day One – In The Flesh**

Fifteen years can be a short time depending on the person, for many it's hard to believe it's only been fifteen years since the impact incident and since the incident which took millions of lives and cost corporations billions. Some corporations weathered the storm easily. Global businesses, the ones with branch's across the world, they took a blow but were able to recover within the year. Others found it much harder, there were so many companies went bankrupt taking their owners and shareholders with them.

For some, however they saw the impact as an opportunity to stake a claim in the business world and to establish themselves. They just needed a way to do it, to make money from the impact yet keep a good public image. First objective of a business is to make money, and what better way to do so than to make it from the world's biggest disaster in nearly a hundred years?

It all started simply enough, an offer to build shelters in the newly dubbed Tokyo 2 for people affected by the impact. There were no survivors from Old Tokyo, but surrounding towns and villages felt it and they were the first to be targeted. The business would offer to build shelters and help these people if the government would fund them. It succeeded, how couldn't it? The offer of cheap help, the government jumped at the opportunity, within five years the business had grown substantially and now had backing not only from the Japanese Government but the support of governments around the world and even backing by the UN.

Soon centers were set up in other countries, the company's services no longer limited to just Japan and the impact. Across northern America centers were set up in deprived areas to help people get back on their feet. Same in Europe and Africa, thanks to the organization people all over the world were being given an opportunity. The owners were happy and profiting, its customers, the governments and UN were happy and most of all the people it served were happy.

Ten years after it was set up, it expanded. The Company was no longer limited to just giving aid to countries and the unfortunate. Thanks to the funding and public support it received, it moved into the field of medicine and biochemical research. Promising that a cure would be found for diseases previously thought incurable, the big breakthrough came when it privately tested the world's first working AIDS vaccine.

By the year Twenty Fifteen, the Marduk Institute is one of the world leaders in medical research. The AIDS vaccine is ready for a public testing as the New Year approaches, a promise that in the months that follow, cures for more diseases will be found. It was definitely a big promise, one that many people felt they couldn't follow through with but it was hope, something that was needed with the constant threat of another possible Impact Incident looming over them.

Then there was the person leading the institute, the person who had helped lead them into the field of medical research and promised this brighter future for mankind, the man known to the public as Kaworou Nagisa. On this day he stands in the Marduk Institute headquarters main meeting rooms, only an hour after giving a speech in front of hundreds of eager reporters. The speech that will set new wheels into motion, wheels that will turn humanity towards, as he put it 'A future beyond what they could have ever imagined.'

Now he stands looking out over the skyline of Tokyo 3, his own pale reflection looking back at him through the windows, his white hair coming down to his shoulders, his red eyes gazing out across the great metropolis. He smiled slightly at his handiwork, with a few simple words and the promise of hope, millions around the world put their trust in him. In the background he could hear the very words he had uttered earlier being repeated on one of the new programs he had turned to just to catch the continuing news coverage of the explosion at an abandoned factory outside the city. He went over and turned the TV off, muttering quietly to himself.

"Bardiel, you were a fool. I gave you the opportunity, yet you did not take it. We had a willing host yet you went against us, what a waste of life you truly were."

He returned to his position overlooking Tokyo 3 just as the doors to the room opened and three more people entered the room. Kaworou turned around just in time to see them fully enter the room. Smiling he observed the three of them, the first a man built slightly larger than Kaworou. He was wearing a typical business suit just like many Japanese business men wore when in this area of the city. Kaworou greeted the man and he took a seat.

Kaworou then turned to the second person and greeted her. She had the same piercing red eyes as him, however she did not share the white hair or the pale white skin. She too took a seat at the small conference table. Then he moved onto the third person, also female and remarkably identical to the woman before hand. However, instead of having long flowing brown hair she had long flowing blonde hair. She took the third seat with Kaworou taking the final seat.

"The time has come my friends, it has been a tough road but we have been able to stick together through it. All our other brothers and sisters have fallen, choosing to seek out Adam by themselves. For this arrogance they have been taken from this earth. Perhaps too early it must be said, but their sacrifice will be our gain. We now have a possible location for Adam and with the backing of Chairman Keel and SEELE we also know the identities of those known as the Evangelion."

Kaworou paused for a moment allowing the other three to take in what he had just said, their reactions did not say much of what they thought. Each of them looked on seemingly unperturbed by the news. One of them did however speak, the female with brown hair. She spoke, her voice soft sounding yet at the same time stern and to the point.

"What can we do with the identities? They have already been able to take out our brothers and sisters, surely we should not concern ourselves with the Evangelions but instead with retrieving Adam. After all this is our object, to retrieve Adam. Involving ourselves with the Evangelions would be a bad move."

"Normally I would agree with you Areal, but, it would seem however that the path to Adam leads us right through the Evangelions. We do have an advantage over them that our brethren did not."

Areal spoke again, her voice suspicious, "What is this advantage?"

"We have power and numbers, our brothers and sisters chose to act alone. Each one falling one after the other with no back up, if one fell no matter how weak the Eva's were there would be no one to capitalize. We have that advantage, we have each other and we have people ready to follow us."

Areal replied, seemingly more confident but still doubtful, "I see, I fear this might not be enough though. We would be better off trying to secure Adam and avoiding the Evangelions altogether."

"This is impossible, there is always an Evangelion in close proximity to Adam at all times. However two of them are unaware of their proximity to Adam, this can work to our advantage."

One of the other Angels entered the conversation, the male. "What of the other one?"

"She is weak compared to the other two, although she may still pose a problem. If we can isolate the other two then we will be able to launch a coordinated effort to retrieve the first sample.

"So what do you propose?"

"We cannot rush into this, we will need time. Fortunately we have it in abundance, they will still be recovering from Bardiel's attack. From my intelligence reports Unit 01, or Shinji Ikari, is in a weakened state, we will use this to our advantage to lure him away."

"How can we lure him away?"

"I've contacted Keel, he has been able to negotiate a new placement within NERV. Zureal, I want you to take the placement. Infiltrate their ranks and lead Ikari out, once there we will give him what he thinks he wants. I will offer him hope and he will receive it."

"How can we be sure of this?"

"We can be sure because, despite all his ability, he is still human." Kaworou paused for a brief moment before continuing, "The position will open up in twenty eight days, until that time I will assign each of you to a target. Observe them but do not make your true selves known, we should try to keep contact down to a minimum. I want a list and detailed check list of them all when we reconvene. Areal you will handle the one known as Asuka Langley Sohryu, have your people go through her records, find out what you can about her family history and her past. Armisael I want you to learn what you can about Rei Ayanami, unfortunately she is within proximity of NERV's director a lot of the time."

Armiseal cut in at that moment, "What do you suggest?"

Kaworou continued, "Instead I suggest a different approach, the doctor Ritsuko Akagi, she too is weakening. Persuade her to give you information but do not give away anything."

The blonde haired female nodded, acknowledging the request. Finally Kaworou turned to Zureal and spoke, "Shinji Ikari will be the hardest one, he is the Director's son and I feel there is something different about him. He will be the first one we need to isolate from the group. I will arrange something with Keel for this. As I said lure him away and I will handle the rest."

All three of the Angels nodded and stood from their seats, Kaworou looked on confidently. "We reconvene in twenty eight days and then we look onwards towards the New Year and the Lilim's new era."

_25 July 2015_

**Day Three – Another Brick In The Wall**

Asuka looked around the hospital, seething with anger. She hated these places so much. Every time she had been injured she had treated it herself or asked to be treated at the scene, it had agitated many people but she didn't care. Yet here she was walking down the corridor of one to visit someone, not to question the person but to actually visit them. There was something about this particular hospital she didn't like though, this is where it had pretty much all began. This was the hospital where they had first saw the man they then known as Gendo Rokubungi, the man they now knew to be Shinji's father.

No one had even explained to her why it was this hospital, Misato had been taken here, as had Shinji. Of course Shinji promptly checked himself out only to nearly collapse on the way out. Asuka remembered it well, she was walking with him at the time. She was tempted to take him back inside but she saw it in his eyes. He didn't want to go back in, his father was there. After what had just happened even Asuka knew it wasn't a good idea for them to be within close proximity.

Now, however, she wasn't just angry from having to enter the place again but because of her decision of what to do with Shinji. It had been three days, with each day she found herself getting more and more annoyed with him. At first she felt sorry for him, but he wouldn't do anything, he wouldn't speak, he would barely eat, Asuka found herself going back into her old mindset, the one that saw him as nothing more as a work colleague and the mindset that saw him as an increasingly pathetic human being.

She turned into the corridor leading to the room where Misato was being kept just in time to see both Gendo and Rei leaving. Gendo walked straight past her, however Ayanami stopped in front of her. Asuka cursed silently not really wanting to get into a conversation with her.

"Is Shinji not with you today?"

Asuka looked around and replied sarcastically, "Yeah he's just invisible. No Ayanami he isn't, he's at home sleeping."

Rei questioned her, "I am curious, what do you mean home? I thought he lived with Katsuragi."

Asuka replied, trying not to lose her temper. She didn't need reminding that Shinji was staying with her. "He does, except he's been staying with me since we retrieved him from Leliel."

"I see I am surprised you are allowing him to stay with you. I was under the impression you did not like him."

With each question Asuka was getting increasingly annoyed, she was already in a bad mood because of Shinji and, from before that, at being practically embarrassed by Bardiel. Rei was making her feel worse.

"I don't really think that's any of your business, besides it isn't like you've done much to help him. You could have told him or me what you know but you kept it to yourself, just whose side are you on anyway?"

Asuka shot back angrily, knowing her final words maybe making her sound a little bit childish but she didn't particularly care. It wasn't really as if Rei was in a position to question her about such a thing anyway, considering that Rei already knew so much but failed to mention it to either her or to Shinji.

Asuka felt bad when she saw Rei's reaction. It looked like Asuka had actually upset the blue haired agent. Rei spoke slowly this time, it was clear she was trying to maintain her composure.

"I am sorry for upsetting you. I hope Ikari feels better soon."

Rei moved quickly down the corridor to rejoin Gendo, not giving Asuka a chance to respond. She shrugged it off and went into Misato's room and found Kaji was already in there talking to her. Misato was sitting up, her arm still bandaged from the injuries she had sustained but she was looking well and had a smile on her face. Asuka went over to her and hugged her, Misato greeting her.

"Sohryu, it's good to see you."

Asuka did her best to smile at her superior. "It's good to see you too, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better thank you. They just won't let me out yet. They're keeping me in for observation. The director brought me here because he feared I may have contracted something from Bardiel. Apparently the parasite could be lying dormant in me, a load of bullshit if you ask me, because I feel fine."

Asuka laughed, "Well that's the exact reason I don't like these places. Do you know when you'll be out?"

"They say about a week, how is Shinji doing?"

Asuka sighed heavily, not quite sure what to tell Misato. There was no way she was going to get around explaining it to her at any rate. She knew how Misato felt about Shinji, that she felt of him as her own son and she had seen that had happened last time she had said anything bad about him. Although Asuka still felt she was right she didn't really want to get on the bad side of her superior either. Fortunately for Asuka, her silence on the subject said a lot to Misato.

"I see, he isn't taking it well then?"

Asuka sighed, "To put it bluntly, no he isn't. I thought I was doing the right thing by letting him stay with me while you were in here. I thought maybe being around someone else would have helped him a bit more but he's acting so pathetic over it."

"How do you mean?"

Asuka sped up, she didn't really want to talk about this today but at the same time needed to get it off her chest. "He's not speaking and barely eating. He won't leave the house or do anything, I keep on trying to get him to speak or do something but he won't. I don't know why he's acting like this, it wasn't even his fault. It was his bastard father who forced him to do it, and even then, what else could have been done? Shinji saw what Bardiel had done to his friend, that wasn't his friend in there anymore. He did his friend a favor if anything."

They were harsh words but both Misato and Asuka knew they were true. If Bardiel hadn't been stopped he would have used Touji's body to keep going and keep killing until there was nothing left. As tragic as it was it had to be done, there was no other way. Misato knew this and understood Asuka's predicament, she was feeling sorry for Shinji but at the same time he needed to be told.

"Asuka, I know during the Leliel incident you called Shinji a few things and I reacted harshly."

Asuka smiled trying to make a joke out of it she remembered it all too well, she remembered being slapped and then breaking down crying in the middle of Katsuragi's office, "Harshly? I felt that slap for the next few days."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have reacted like that, you were right to express your opinion of what happened." Misato paused for a moment, "When you go back, confront him and be honest with him. Be harsh with him. He needs someone like you to do that, you're the only one who can."

"I understand, but why me?"

"Because you can. If I do it I'll end up backing out at the last minute. You're stronger than me."

_26th July 2015_

**Day Four – One Of My Turns**

Asuka looked into the darkened room, in the shadows she could make out his sleeping form on the bed, his body moving silently up and down to the rhythm of his breathing. She paused for a moment just watching him sleep. She reached around for the light and flicked it on and saw his body move slightly. Not sure he was awake she began to speak, quietly at first not really sure of how to go about it.

"Kensuke…called me, they've arranged Touji's funeral five days from now. They want you to be there."

There was no response from him, Asuka began to feel the anger building up in her again. She tried to maintain it for now not wanting to resort to what Misato told her just yet. She spoke again, still trying to stay relatively calm.

"I told him we'll both be there."

Again no response from him, now she was getting annoyed. She knew he wasn't still sleeping since she had seen his body jump slightly when she had entered, so why was he ignoring her?

"So, if you want in the next few days I can take you over to Misato's to pick up your clothes. I know you have a few things here but…"

She trailed off there suddenly aware of how stupid her attempts at getting him to speak were. It wasn't going to work, talking about something so insignificant was never going to work, she remembered what Misato told her yesterday and her own feelings from yesterday and decided to be honest with him.

"Look Shinji I know what happened must have hurt, but you have to face up to it. You're not going to achieve anything by just doing nothing."

Still no reaction, she continued.

"If you just want to lie there and act pathetic then go ahead and do it. It may as well have been your fault he died if you're just going to do nothing."

This time it got a reaction.

She saw him pull himself up slowly into a sitting position. He held his head in his hands. Asuka could see him shaking slightly. She wasn't sure if it was because he was upset or if it was anger with what she was saying. At least now she knew it was having an effect. She smiled slightly and continued this time sounding much more malicious.

"You know you really are pathetic sometimes, I thought you would have changed after Leliel and you did a bit. Then this happened, I tried to feel sorry for you but how can I feel sorry for a coward like you."

She heard him sniffing quietly but didn't back down, she was fed up of feeling sorry for him or of other people feeling sorry for him. She heard him whispering quietly, it wasn't much but she could make out his words.

"Help…me…"

He had stood up and was now near to her, his eyes were red and his face was streaked with tears. She didn't feel sorry for him, instead she just spat back at him.

"Help yourself Shinji."

There was a pause, they both locked eyes on each other, then it happened. He lunged forward and Asuka felt his hands clasp around her throat, pushing her up against the wall. With each movement he was choking her a bit more. She didn't show any of the pain she felt instead she just continued to stare at him, her eyes showing pure hatred. He had his head bowed not looking at her, instead she heard him whispering again.

"Please…help me."

Through the pain she was just able to respond once again putting as much hatred into it as she could, she wanted Shinji to know she didn't want to help him, she wanted him to know the hatred she felt for him at that moment. "No."

He released his grip on her.

As she dropped to the ground she saw the orange glow of Shinji's A.T. Field forming around him. This was not what was meant to happen, she had wanted to get a reaction from him but maybe now she had pushed him too far. She found herself unable to move as she watched Shinji stagger backwards. He screamed out and with one movement he threw the chest of drawers near her onto the ground. They landed with a violent crash, their contents spilling out over the floor.

She watched on with horror as he didn't stop there, he picked up the bedside table and threw it across the room in pure rage. She didn't shout out at him to stop but instead just kept watching him as he attempted to tear up the room. She was just table to get out of the way of one of the ornaments flying towards the wall. Then almost as quickly as it had started it was over. The room was a complete mess, it could almost be likened to a bomb site. There was smashed glass from the mirrors, broken pieces of wood and an overturned mattress. In the center of it all was Shinji, who had dropped to his knees, his head in his hands. She noticed a thin trail of blood streaming from his knuckles, presumably from where he had punched through one of the mirrors.

"I killed him Asuka…I could have done more…but I didn't…I should have done more…but I let him control me. I could have saved him…it's my fault he's dead."

Asuka knelt down next to him, and pulled him towards her, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder. She felt him sobbing as she tried to think of the words to say, she was partially responsible for this. She had pushed him towards doing it, she had been told to be harsh and this was what had happened.

"It's not your fault he's dead, there was nothing else you could have done. But you can't live like this."

Through his sobbing he was able to respond, "I don't want to, but I don't know how. I don't want to feel the guilt for it, but I do. I don't know what to do anymore, please…help me."

Asuka looked around at it and put both her arms around him holding him tighter, "I'll try."

_31st July 2015_

**Day Nine – Goodbye Cruel World**

Shinji stood looking onward, he felt numb to it all. It was almost like something from a dream. Except he knew this wasn't a dream, it was real. He felt Asuka hold tightly onto his arm as the coffin was lowered into the hole and the priest finished speaking. Shinji didn't dare cry even if he wanted to, he didn't feel like he had the right to. It was a stupid way of thinking and he knew it, but he still felt guilt. Anyone would, his own body had been the one used to kill Touji.

He had kept on trying to tell himself it wasn't his fault, that it was something else that caused it and that he didn't have any control over it. There was still some doubt there, could he have done more? Asuka had told him there was nothing more he could have done, that if he _did_ try to fight himself, he would have had to kill Touji anyway. The nature of the parasite and its dependence on a host only proved this further.

There weren't too many people at the ceremony, Touji's family, Kensuke, Shinji and Asuka, Misato and Kaji and Hikari. Hikari had grown up and gone to the same school as Shinji and Touji so knew him quite well. Asuka remembered how she reacted when she'd heard the news, no one knew it but she had feelings for Touji and although not seeing him was hoping to one day make her feelings known. She had missed her chance and was the first to break into tears.

Asuka kept hold of Shinji's arm, trying not to take any notice of what was going on. She hated being there, the damp air, the people crying and the coffin being lowered into the ground. It reminded her too much of that day twenty years ago when she watched the same thing happen to her own mother. This whole situation put her at unease, especially considering all the events leading up to it.

The ceremony finished and people began to make there way towards the exit, aside from Touji's family. They were stood on the opposite side to Asuka and Shinji and he looked at them. Shinji didn't dare make eye contact with them. It had been bad enough when they came up to him before and tried to tell him it wasn't his fault that Touji had died. Shinji only wished he could tell them the truth but how would he explain something like that? They believed their only son had been shot dead in a shoot out as opposed to the reality that he was really the victim of an alien parasite. Maybe, Shinji thought to himself, the truth isn't always the best thing to know.

He heard someone whispering next to him, "Let's go."

Shinji nodded as he and Asuka making their way towards the waiting car. "Asuka…I can't feel anything…"

She looked at him oddly, "Well it is cold."

"No, I mean when they were doing the ceremony and they lowered the coffin. I couldn't feel anything for him, I felt numb, like I didn't even have the right to be there."

She sighed, "Don't be such an idiot he was your friend of course you had the right to be there. You're not blaming yourself for what happened again are you?"

Shinji stopped and turned, watching Touji's family leaving the cemetery "In a way I guess I am, but it's not just that. We lied to them Asuka, after all that's happened to us, all the lies we've had to listen to we turned around and fed them lies about what happened to their own son. It's not right."

"We didn't have a choice, besides even if we did tell them the truth would they have believed us?"

Shinji knew she was right, he nodded and agreed. "You're right, but it just doesn't feel right. We lied to them. That make's us as bad as the others who lied to us. Are we as bad as Keel or my father?"

"No of course it doesn't, they lied for their own gain. We had to lie to them to protect them, if we told them, what would they have thought of us? They would have thought you were trying to make a joke of it all or that you were crazy." She paused for a moment before smiling,

"Of course, not that people don't already think that you're crazy."

Shinji reacted moodily, although not shouting his voice was harsh and snapping, "Thanks, so now I'm a liar and crazy…"

"Oh come on, I was just trying to make a joke. Look it was just…the right choice."

"I suppose."

Shinji leaned back against the car and looked onwards, there was no one left at the cemetery, Touji's family had already left. Misato, Kaji and Hikari had took another car and were heading back to NERV. Both he and Asuka looked around in silence for a bit, he felt her arm wrapping around his back. He held her and rested his head on her shoulder as they embraced each other. She spoke softly to him.

"I'm sorry you had to lie to them but it was for the best. If we'd told them we risked involving them, they could have been targeted by SEELE."

She stopped for a few moments and continued, "We'll find a way to stop SEELE though, I'll make sure they don't succeed even if I have to fight all the remaining angels by myself and take on them alone."

Shinji whispered back to her, "You won't be alone."

"I know."

She gently moved his head off of her shoulder and leaned in towards him, their lips met, only this time she was aware of what she was doing. She actually wanted to kiss him this time and didn't care if anyone was watching. They stood there leaning against the car just lost in the kiss and for that moment in time there was no one else in the world, there was no conspiracy, no SEELE, nothing except for them two.

_3rd August 2015_

**Day Twelve – Hey You**

"Misato…should we really be doing this?"

She giggled, "We've already have done it several times to be precise."

He laid back on the bed, speaking in a serious tone. "Don't you think it's a bit too soon though?"

Misato looked at her bandaged arm, it was still injured. Each time they had made love that evening she had felt pain shooting through it but she didn't care. She shrugged it off, "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Kaji smiled weakly while Misato lit up a cigarette, he looked her over as she sat with her back to him with only the sheets covering her. He was concerned about her, she hadn't been the same since he had come to NERV and definitely not since Shinji had been captured by Leliel. He couldn't blame her and he didn't really help the entire situation keeping all those secrets from them. Something stopped him though, fear. He knew what would happen if he told them anything. He had to choose the right times to reveal small pieces of the puzzle, though by the time he told everything, it wouldn't matter.

Something inside him kept on telling him that he was just running away from it, that he was a coward for pretending to know nothing or for lying to the people around him. That was why he felt uneasy now. It didn't feel right, Misato was depending on him yet he kept on lying. He wanted to stop the lying, he cared about her, he would even go as far as to say he loved her, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Kaji…what happened to us all those years ago?"

"We were young Misato, too young but we each had our own lives. You wanted to stay here in Japan and worked with NERV, I joined but got sent to Germany. It was never going to work like that."

Misato wasn't sure if Kaji truthfully couldn't remember what had happened or if he was just trying to cover up how harsh it really was. She did remember the situation, the last meeting between them after which Kaji had flown out to Germany. Three months previously, she had told him it wasn't going to work, that it would be best for both of them if they didn't see each other. Ironically she broke it off a month before Kaji learnt he was going to Germany.

"Yet ironically we meet up again over ten years later working with the two very people we we're guardians of. Maybe we were wrong…"

"We weren't wrong, just not completely right either. It might have worked but at a later date."

"Like now you mean?"

"Precisely."

She paused for a moment before lying back in the bed and putting her arms around Kaji, "What was it like over there, bringing up Asuka? That can't have been easy."

"I didn't really have much involvement as you did with Shinji to be honest. I wasn't a full guardian I was just friends with her family and helped look after her. Her father never really had any time for her and...well I'm sure you know what happened to her mother, I was just there to look after her. She was difficult, she believed she was the best at everything."

Misato smiled slightly, from knowing Asuka now it wasn't really hard to believe. "And was she?"

Kaji responded his voice still sounding serious. "Usually yes, she pushed herself really hard in everything she did. She never let anything upset her, a sign of weakness according to her. She just had a wall there, she'd say one thing but you could see in her eyes exactly who she was and what she really meant. She was lost, lonely, she needed someone. When I saw her again on the Over The Rainbow, she had toned down the arrogance but the look in her eyes was still there, waiting to reach out to someone or for someone to notice and reach out to her."

"Did you ever try?"

Kaji shook his head, "No I couldn't, and it wasn't my place to. But I noticed in the past few days, that look…it's fading slightly. It's still there but it's not as noticeable, it's almost as if she has finally found someone."

"You mean Shinji?"

He grinned slightly as he spoke, "They're suited for each other, they're the opposite in terms of personality but when you look at their backgrounds and what's inside, they could almost be the same person, they just deal with it differently. It's the old cliché, opposites attract..."

"Shinji never really had someone to reach out to either" Katsuragi said "I tried to be that person, but maybe I was too forward for him or maybe it was because I wasn't really related to him. Maybe you're right, maybe they are suited for each other."

"Two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl…"

"What?"

"Nothing, just lines from a song I once heard."

_12th August 2015_

**Day Twenty One – The Show Must Go On**

Fuyutsuki dropped the folder onto Gendo's desk, his expression was solemn, a stark contrast to Gendo who was bearing his patented arrogant smile. The old professor was once again unsure of what to think, he had seen the files he had even given his blessing for it to go ahead, but now that it had started he wasn't really too sure if it was the right decision. Unfortunately there was no going back now, he looked once again at the name on the front of the document.

"Misato Katsuragi the only survivor of the impact incident fifteen years ago, the same woman who would later go on to join NERV and work for those who helped to assist in the Impact. Became legal guardian of one Shinji Ikari, who is now one of the Evangelions, when he was aged fourteen she now oversees all missions assigned to him and the other Evangelions."

"I am aware of her history Fuyutsuki, you are concerned about something?"

Fuyutsuki chuckled, "You know me Ikari I'm always concerned. Since twenty years ago when we became a part of this project I was concerned and nothing has changed since then. Have we gone too far this time, if the committee learns of this they will kill us, we can't cover up something like this? Shinji will suspect something as well, what are you going to tell him?"

"I will tell him what he needs to know and no more and I do not believe we will be hearing from the committee on this issue. It is not something they are interested in, Katsuragi is not one of their priorities."

"What about Katsuragi herself? This is far beyond anything we have done before."

"It was our only choice, our only hope for our scenario, our only regret is that we cannot steer this any further than we already have. The tide is turning in our direction, our role has been fulfilled, all we can do now is watch as it plays out."

"So we're just going to sit back and watch?"

Gendo smiled "The future lies in my son's hands, we will assist in steering it towards what we want but beyond that it is up to him."

Fuyutsuki reacted with surprise, "I never thought I'd hear that from you."

"Hear what?"

This time it was Fuyutsuki's turn to wear a cocky smile, he answered sharply, "You refer to Shinji as your son."

"A mere slip of the tongue Professor, nothing more."

_19th August 2015_  
**Day Twenty Eight – Isn't This Where We Came In?**

Shinji felt his stomach churn as the lift got down to the basement level. This was his first day back in NERV since Bardiel, it was not something he had been looking forward to, unfortunately Asuka was not with him, she had been called out somewhere else to investigate. He took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened and stepped out into the corridor.

He stopped when he noticed a man he didn't recognize stood outside the office, their eyes met for a brief moment, Shinji could have sworn he saw a hint of recognition in this other mans eyes. He shrugged it off as tiredness and greeted him.

"Hello there, can I help you?"

The man spoke, his voice rather apologetic, "Hi I've just been assigned to the NERV Branch here, and I was assigned to work under Agent Katsuragi."

"Misato? Her office is up on the fourth floor."

The man looked at him oddly, "Really? I was told she worked here."

As the man spoke Shinji felt a chill run down his spine, something didn't feel right about him. The way he spoke and his mannerisms just seemed off to him, once again Shinji just put it down to tiredness and tried to answer his question. "Well in a way she does, sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Agent Ikari, Agent Katsuragi is my immediate superior."

The man nodded and introduced himself, "Agent Carter, I've been assigned to work with NERV on a special case by my government. I guess we'll be seeing more of each other

"I see, well if you want Katsuragi she'll probably be up on the fourth floor, but she'll be down here in about half an hour if you want to wait."

"No that's alright, I'll go and find her."

Carter left without saying anything else, Shinji shrugged as he let himself into the room. Surprisingly the door was already unlocked, he stepped inside to find Asuka busy at work at her desk. Slightly confused he walked over to her and greeted her, "Asuka, I thought you were..."

She cut him off, "…working on something else? Yes I am, I returned about fifteen minutes ago. What do you know about the Marduk Institute?"

Shinji nodded his head and began speaking, "World leader in medical research, provided support and shelters after the impact, provided support for people all around the world and has the support of governments all over. Why do you ask?"

"This case I was tipped off about, it was a woman, not quite sure who. She didn't show up, for an arranged meeting anyway. When I did arrive I was contacted by security, they seemed to know I was going there…"

Shinji nodded, "Right."

She continued, "Turns out the guy in charge has gone missing, not a trace of him anywhere. No one has seen him for the past twenty eight days."

"How come it's just been reported today then?"

"That's the thing, the last communication or sighting of him was twenty eight days ago when he was scheduled to have a meeting with three other people. Three of these people left the building, Mr Nagisa, the person in charge, did not. However someone has been sending down orders for those days, only problem is after consulting the records that person was not Mr Nagisa."

"What do you suspect?"

"Kidnapping most likely, Nagisa and Marduk were on the verge of unveiling a working Aids Vaccine at the end of the year. I would imagine a few people would like to get their hands on that and its creator."

Shinji inwardly agreed but he knew there was something else to it than what she had just mentioned, "So what's the catch?"

She answered him, "No groups have taken responsibility and no one's left a ransom note. No body has been found and no records of him ever leaving have been found. It's almost as if he has just vanished into thin air."

"I see well couldn't we…?"

Shinji was interrupted by a knocking at the door, the door opened and Misato poked her head into the room and called towards the door of them, she had a solemn expression on her face and didn't waste time in giving them instructions..

"Can I have a quick word with you two?"

Shinji nodded, wondering why she wanted to speak to them. He wondered if it was something to do with the Agent he had met a few minutes ago, "Of course, come on in."

She stepped into the room and stood before them with the same solemn look, "Look I know you might find this hard to believe and…well… it may be a bit strange, but me and Kaji are back together."

Shinji and Asuka nodded and just gave grunts of acknowledgment. They'd already known that. It had been obvious for weeks, Misato frowned at their lack of interest. "Well you two are enthusiastic, well that's not the only piece of news."

Asuka chimed in, "Let me guess you stayed at his place last night?"

Shinji tried to stop himself from laughing, he didn't really want to annoy Misato especially knowing how she could wind both of them up. Misato ignored Asuka and continued speaking.

"Like I said, it might seem a bit strange and even I find it hard to believe but we had it confirmed last week…." She paused for a moment before blurting out quickly, "I'm pregnant."


	22. About To Crash

_23__rd__ August 2015_

**Marduk Institute – 1015 hours**

Shinji entered the main lobby, much to his surprise both Asuka and the newly assigned Agent Carter had already arrived and were waiting for him. He looked around the main lobby, which was a lot grander than he had expected for the humble Marduk Institute. Then again, it was a multi billion dollar organization so it was allowed to be a bit majestic, even if it was dealing with producing vaccines and support for millions around the world.

As he entered he was stopped by one of the security guards, he held up his NERV ID and quickly made his way past them. To his right he noticed a small group of people talking excitedly as he approached, they took out cameras and started taking photographs of him much to the annoyance of the buildings security who immediately ushered them out of the building.

He didn't need to ask about it, Asuka read it on his face and filled him in, "Reporters, a few of them got a tip off that Mr. Nagisa had gone missing, that's about the fourth group they've had to deal with this morning."

Shinji looked at the group being forced out of the building and shook his head, "I thought we had a media blackout on this incident."

Asuka responded without really caring about the cameras being aimed at her, if anything she was finding the whole thing quite humorous. "We do, but that's not going to stop something being leaked. Nagisa was a friend of the media's. He's had interviews scheduled for the past month and not turned up to a single one. Someone was bound to put two and two together eventually."

Shinji looked around, Carter was busy speaking to one of the members of security making sure another little incident did not occur. He still wasn't sure about Agent Carter. Something about him struck Shinji as odd, maybe it was just the sudden assignment to NERV by the American Government. Shinji had never heard of such a thing happening before, yet it was legit and Shinji couldn't argue against it.

Behind him he heard Asuka sighing and speaking in an annoyed tone, "Let me guess, you don't trust him?"

Shinji turned and smiled slightly. Was it that easy for Asuka to know what he was thinking? He nodded, "Now what would make you say such a thing?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, maybe the fact that I've been thinking the same thing myself and you're you."

Shinji was ready to reply, but she quickly cut him off with a quick kiss to the lips which soon made him forget what he was about to say.

"Shouldn't we be focusing more on the investigation than…our own personal time, especially with all these reporters hanging around?"

Asuka broke off the kiss and looked to her left, Carter was looking at them both suspiciously. Both Shinji and Asuka looked at each other, rather embarrassed. Asuka stammered when she spoke, "O…O…Yeah, well we were just discussing the case and the disappearance."

Shinji restrained himself from laughing. It wouldn't really look good if he did and he was sure Asuka wouldn't be too pleased either. Instead, he tried to take the attention off of what had just happened, "So what do we have Agent Carter?"

Carter shook his head and spoke, "Compared to what we knew a few days ago when Agent Sohryu was informed about the case…absolutely nothing. Still no contact from anybody. They are going to let us have the CCTV Tapes soon, so we can look them over but they assure us there is nothing on them."

Shinji nodded, "Well we'll see about that, not everything is as it seems at first glance."

Carter looked at him strangely, "Oh yes of course, well I don't think we'll have to worry about your alien theories here. I prefer to deal in the real world, Ikari, and I think you'd do better to do the same."

Shinji got ready to respond but he felt Asuka squeeze his shoulder tightly. Instead, she was the one who responded, "I'd suggest you focus more on the case than on Shinji's beliefs, besides, you might be surprised."

"It'll take a lot of convincing but you're right, we should stop worrying about that which doesn't exist and focus on what is happening. We'll take another look around the office and then get the tapes from security."

Carter walked back off towards the security guards to arrange access to the office, Shinji felt Asuka kneel down next to him and whisper into his ear, "You know I think I preferred working with Ayanami, at least she was quiet."

**Tokyo 3 Park – 1030 hours**

Rei stepped through the gates and looked around, the hot August sun beating down on her as she walked casually through Tokyo 3's central park. All around her were the excited screams of children, people riding bikes, people walking their dogs, families out on picnics. Each one of them enjoying themselves. This was a place people came for enjoyment, but if that was the case then why was she feeling sadness?

She didn't even know why she was here, she had never had a desire to walk amongst Tokyo 3 before or interact with strangers. This was all new to her, she had never done simple things like walk through parks or Tokyo 3's countryside. She had only spent time in her old apartment, with Gendo or in NERV. She was used to spending time by herself and if she was being honest she preferred it that way. Interacting with strangers was uncomfortable to her.

She stopped for a moment to look around and took particular interest in some of the blue flowers that had been planted nearby. She knelt down and looked closer at the flower, which was a pale shade of blue. These flowers were separated from the rest, protected by a small mesh enclosure. They were isolated from everything else, sheltered and left to grow on there own. In a strange way they reminded Rei of herself, she thought it was unusual being able to identify with such an insignificant item like a flower, but in many ways it was like her.

She was separated, different, brought up away from everything else and she didn't know how to interact with others beyond a basic level. Until she was assigned to NERV by Gendo, all she knew was her cold, lonesome apartment and the director. She, much like those flowers, had been isolated from the rest of the world to grow. Just like the flower, when she left would no one care?

'_No….that's not true, he would notice. Ikari cares for me and won't let that happen.'_

She felt a strange feeling in her heart as she looked across the sheltered area. That sense of emptiness had always been there in her heart but it had never felt like this before. It felt amplified. Maybe because she had tasted human contact and met other people beyond the director. Or maybe it as she thought, had always been there, just overtime that emptiness had grown bigger.

Over the past months though, she hadn't felt like that. She had felt like she had a purpose and like she belonged. Rei realized it may have been a bit strange considering how she had came into NERV, but those months her relationships with Sohryu, Katsuragi and Shinji had developed. They had seemed to care, they had tried to give her a purpose to make her feel human. Despite what she had done to them they had helped her. When she had nowhere to go Asuka had given her a place to stay, when she had fell ill Shinji had defended her. She had a connection with them, a bond had grown. It was something she had never felt before.

Now that had been taken away from her. She had known it would happen, that her place with NERV was only temporary. Gendo had explained the reason for it, that he wanted her to work behind the scenes again and not in public. That something big was due to happen and he didn't want her to get caught up in it, but she wanted to get involved for some reason. Even though she knew she couldn't and shouldn't get caught up in it, she wanted to.

She turned from the blue flowers, feeling that she had spent enough time with them. She still didn't understand what pleasure people got from them. All that she had gotten so far was sadness as she tried to go through everything in her mind. She looked across at the other flowers there, the ones growing free in the wild with all the others. The bright red color of them reminded her much of her ex-colleague, Agent Sohryu.

Rei had never really figured out Sohryu, but at the same time she maybe even envied her a bit. Sohryu was free to do as she wished and she could forge those proper bonds and interact with people as she desired. At the same time though, despite Asuka being free and able to do as she wanted, Rei could sense something else inside her. A sadness and a feeling of isolation much like her own. Rei couldn't really figure out why she sensed those within Sohryu but she felt it there.

Rei turned from looking at the flowers and considered going back home. She felt like maybe coming here was a big mistake. It hadn't helped her at all, it had only made her feel worse about the entire thing.

Rei stood and felt a slight presence behind her. She turned and found an old grey haired man looking at her with an arrogant smile on his face. Quickly she felt herself grow cold as she recognized him. She said nothing, instead waiting for him to speak. She had been warned that something like this might happen now that she was no longer working with NERV.

"Agent...or should I say former Agent Ayanami? What a coincidence it is seeing you in a place like this."

Rei turned around to face him, so this was the person the Director had warned her about. She had never met him before nor had she really desired to. All she knew was what his role was with SEELE. She addressed him without questioning his reason for being there, already pretty sure of the reasons.

"Chairman Keel, do you have business with Director Ikari today?"

"No I don't, I'm just out taking a walk. What brings you to such a place?"

Rei couldn't answer him. She didn't even know herself why she was there. She had thought that maybe taking a walk would help her sort out her head. Since she was told she was no longer a part of NERV, she had felt conflicted. She wasn't really sure what it was she felt. Over the weeks at NERV she had changed, developed bonds and feelings for the people she worked with. Shinji, Sohryu and to a lesser extent Katsuragi, it felt strange to be pulled away from them so suddenly.

Keel recognized her struggling to respond and answered for her, "Maybe you're looking for reasons. After all, being discarded like a doll whose owner has gotten bored with it… it must sting a bit."

"I have not been discarded…the director just has…."

"Has what? Other puppets, other dolls to manipulate as he wishes? You know it's true Rei, you knew the day would eventually come when the master would cut the puppets strings. You served your purpose and now he no longer has a use for you."

Each word felt like a dagger in Rei. She had never felt like this before, having never had to really deal with emotions like sadness or despair. Gendo had seen to it that she had never had to feel that and now she didn't even know how to deal with it. She tried to cover up but could only stutter out weakly.

"T-That's not true…I do have a purpose."

"Do you really believe that? Gendo lied to us about your origins, so who's to say he didn't lie to you about them either?"

Rei paused for a moment. Again she found herself unable to say anything, but this time it was from the shock of hearing him mention her origins. It was a subject brought up only once between her and the director when he explained to her, so she did of course know how she had come into the world. No one else knew though, except for her and Gendo. She had been told if Keel or SEELE found out then it would mean death for her and many others. Was this why Keel was here? Was he here to kill her?

Rei tried to gather herself together. She turned to him and spoke, trying to maintain her usual voice, "Why are you here?"

Keel smiled, "Is that a hint of agitation I hear there Rei? I always thought Gendo taught you to suppress those emotions."

Not letting him get the better of her, she replied calmly, "I am not agitated, I am just curious as to why you're really here."

"If you're worried that I'm here to have you killed then there is nothing to worry about. I've known about you for a long time Ayanami, it's just I'm selective about who I share my information with."

"So you're lying to the committee?"

"I'm not lying to them I'm just withholding the truth. Those fools have no reason to know about your secret, despite Gendo not having a use for you, you're still useful to us. You're a prime example of what we're trying to achieve, the pinnacle of human evolution. To have you killed would be a travesty."

Rei had never heard herself be referred to like this before, nor did she see herself as such either. Naturally she knew she wasn't normal, she knew what the serum did to her and how her origins played a bit. What struck her as strange though was Keel saying he had a use for her. How could she be of any use to him? She wasn't assigned to NERV anymore nor was she assigned to hunt the angels. That was all Keel wanted to the best of her knowledge.

"What do you mean you have a use for me?"

"You're lost Rei, you've been sheltered all of your short life by Ikari because he didn't want you to be human. He wanted you to be a tool and one that benefits only him, now you've ran your course and he's discarded you. You feel like you have no purpose anymore. You feel abandoned and alone in this godless world. What's more you've also been separated from the one you care for."

"I have not been separated from the dire-"

Keel laughed at her words and interrupted her, "You know I'm not talking about Gendo."

He was referring to Shinji, he had to have been. It was true she had developed some feelings for him. He had been there for her from the start, despite what she had had to do to him he had wanted to protect her, to reach out for her. He was the only one who had ever bothered to do so. "I…"

Sensing she didn't have the words to continue, he continued speaking, "Doesn't it hurt Rei, every time you saw him and Sohryu together. How easily he forgave her after she ran from him and after all she said about him. Wouldn't you like that to change? You know you can make it change. All I want is your assistance in this."

"You already have the assistance of NERV, what do you need me for?"

"Because I know Gendo is working against me, I know he's hiding things from me and the rest of the committee. Your very existence proves that and the fact that he holds Adam also proves that."

"If the committee knows this then why are they allowing him-"

He interrupted her, "The committee doesn't know this and those fools don't need to know at all. They are insignificant. They only want the power for themselves, they don't see what we truly have."

"I do not understand, is the purpose of the project not so that you will all be the new leaders?"

"They will not be the leaders of anything, merely the catalyst that triggers the next stage of human evolution. You, on the other hand, you will direct that change. You will help to decide, if you choose to work with me. I could have it so Adam is given back to us by force, or we could save a lot of trouble and you work with us willingly."

He paused for a moment, "Don't worry though, you don't have to make a decision now. You will have until the final angel. Then I will contact you. I will warn you though if you choose to work against me, then the repercussions will be serious."

With those words he began to walk away from her, leaving her to think about what he had just said. She didn't focus on his offer though, instead she focused on what he had said. This feeling she had at that moment, was it loneliness? Was Keel right about it all, had she really just been discarded like a doll or was he just trying to manipulate her? She felt a stray tear roll down her cheek as she thought about it, not really sure why she was crying.

**NERV Offices – 1330 hours**

**Misato's Office**

Shinji leaned back in the seat and placed his coffee cup on the table. That must have been his twelfth cup in the past two days. It was the Nagisa case. They were caught completely unprepared for it and now because of how sensitive the case was they had to work fast and into the night. This had of course meant no or very little sleep for him or Asuka.

He was actually starting to feel it as well. His eyes were heavy and all he wanted to do was drop down in the middle of the office and sleep. At least tonight he'd get a break, there was nothing he could do until they got the CCTV footage. He looked over and saw Misato looking at him sympathetically.

"You know I've told you that you can go home, there's nothing for you or Sohryu to do here."

"I know, but Asuka won't let me go home. She says she wants to sort something out here first before we go home." He began to yawn loudly but continued speaking, "that of course was an hour ago."

Misato laughed, "So you two are an item now?"

"I don't know, I stay there a lot and we're a lot more open with each other but I don't really think we're an item. We haven't really went on any dates or anything. Besides, after what I did I don't think it's a good idea."

He hung his head as he remembered what he did that day. Destroying her room was not really something he wanted to be reminded of. Misato walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Asuka told me about that, apparently you caused quite a bit of damage. I guess it was my fault as well."

Shinji looked up confused, "What do you mean?"

"She came to visit me before the day of the incident and I told her to be harsh with you and to try to get a reaction. Seems that maybe she was a bit too harsh."

Shinji responded with his head hung. He was clearly embarrassed about it. "She doesn't seem angry with me for it, but at the same time I know she isn't exactly pleased. Although I did offer to pay for it all I still don't think she likes sleeping on her own sofa."

Misato laughed, "So where are you sleeping, all cuddled up on the sofa next to her?"

He shook his head, "No it's not like that. I'm actually on the floor behind the sofa."

"So has she forgiven you yet?"

"Not yet, why should she forgive me anyway? I don't deserve her forgiveness."

"Shinji you can't say that, I'm sure she'll forgive you for it or maybe she already has but just hasn't said anything yet. Just…well, as strange as this sounds about someone like Asuka, just be there for her."

"I'll try."

"Good, because you two will have babysitting duties when this is born."

She pointed at her stomach as she spoke. She smiled. Shinji however did not. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for her, it was just that there was still doubt in his mind about it. Doubt that maybe it shouldn't have been there, but nonetheless was. Shinji raised his head and replied, "How did Kaji take the news about that?"

"He was shocked at first, we all were, but he was happy."

"I see…"

Misato noticed the tone of his voice had changed, she responded harshly. "You're having doubts aren't you?"

"Please don't be upset about it, it's just you always told me it was impossible for you to have children and yet you're pregnant. Especially after something like the Bardiel Incident. I'm just concerned that's all."

"Are you saying my baby could be an Angel?"

"No I'm jus-"

She cut him off. She knew she was shouting at him but she didn't care. She felt almost insulted by what he had said. "Look Shinji, people make mistakes alright? Just because I was told that 15 years ago doesn't mean that what they said then wasn't a mistake. Don't start thinking there's something wrong with my baby just because of the timing. I've put up with your beliefs up until now and tried to support you, but I can't believe you'd try to think up something like that."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean there was something wrong with it. It's just you were attacked by Bardiel and I'm worried…I guess I'm worried that a part of it remained and it might have infected you."

"Yeah well stop worrying, there is nothing wrong with me or my baby okay, do you understand?"

"I understand I'm sorry I just…" he paused, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Misato watched him. Her expression had softened when she noticed a tear rolling down his cheek. She shouldn't have shouted like that, he was only thinking of her and after what had happened to him he had a right to as well.

She put her arm around him and whispered, "I know, I'm sorry too it's just not easy. I don't want anything to happen to this baby and I don't even want to think about what can happen if something goes wrong."

**Shinji/Asuka's Office -1400 hours**

Asuka exited the elevator and took a few steps towards the office. She paused for a moment, however, when she heard Carter's voice coming from inside. The better part of her was telling her that she shouldn't be eavesdropping in on the conversation, but the more dominant part of her told her to stay out there and to listen to it. This was the side she went with. She didn't like Carter, nor did she trust him. The sooner he had left the better in her eyes.

"Yes I understand, I will not need much more time however. I shall be returning soon once I am finished here."

Asuka breathed a sigh of relief, whoever he was talking to it must have been related to his placement here and that he would be leaving soon. That was one goodbye Asuka couldn't wait to say.

"They are…not what I expected. I do not understand why there is so much importance placed on them to be honest. Ikari is not held in high regard by his colleagues and Sohryu…well she apparently had a future here but is held with the same respect as Ikari is."

The sigh of relief Asuka had breathed before had quicker turned to anger. She had to restrain herself from bursting through the door, instead waiting to see what else Carter had to say. She couldn't believe what he had just said, that people saw her the same way they saw Shinji. That was fine though, she didn't need their respect. She knew her own importance and knew they'd see that soon enough.

"The Nagisa case? It is going as we expected it to go, everything is in my reports including the data I have collected on Sohryu. I am sure you will find it of use."

That was her cue, the mention of her name and the proof that she was correct. Carter had been sent here by someone else and was sent to collect date on both her and Shinji. The only question was who? She had to think of how to handle this, Carter didn't know that she had heard this conversation. If she acted too forcefully she might end up not knowing anything. She opened the door and stepped into the office, almost immediately and much to her amusement Carter made an apology and finished speaking on his cell phone.

"Agent Carter, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"Just a call from my colleagues, they want progress reports. That's all."

She questioned him, bluntly. "So tell me again, why exactly are you here?"

He replied arrogantly, "Haven't we already been through this? I was assigned by my government to ensure NERV doesn't screw up on finding Nagisa. I'm sure you're aware of the implications it could have on the world if he is not recovered safely, or has your own concern for your own life and Ikari's blinded you to what you should be doing?"

Asuka desperately wanted to punch him. Everything he said just seemed to irritate her. It was as if he was trying to do this on purpose. She responded confidently, "So you don't think me and Ikari can handle it, well look you just watch us deal with it and make sure you don't get in our way."

"So arrogant, didn't your mother ever-"

Asuka snapped, she dashed towards him and pinned him up against the wall snarling. She spat out angrily, "Don't you ever…fucking mention my mother again, do you understand?"

She let go of him and stormed out of the room. He looked at the door with a cocky grin and spoke to himself.

"I understand Sohryu, you'd better watch that temper though. You might wind up not making it to the fifteenth…"

**Asuka's Residence – 2350 hours**

Shinji lay awake and looked up at the ceiling feeling very much like irony had slapped him across the face. He had spent the last day begging for sleep and the past few days begging for the chance to just sit down and have a rest. Now, when that chance did come, he found himself unable to even close his eyes.

Everything was weighing heavily on his mind, Misato's baby, Kaworou Nagisa, Asuka, Touji, his father, the colonization. It was all there each time he closed his eyes, entering his mind and not allowing him to get to sleep. Then there were the piles of flat pack furniture lying at his feet still boxed up. The sight of those definitely did not help ease his mind, only serve as a constant reminder of what he had done.

'_I'll have to sort those out for her this weekend, it's the least I can do.'_

He closed his eyes and tried again to get back to sleep. Behind him he could hear Asuka shifting slightly on the sofa. He was concerned about her. She had come in a lot later than he had expected, when he asked why she just blanked him. He could tell something was wrong. One thing he had learnt was that Asuka was good at hiding her feelings and not letting people know she was upset. The day she learnt about her mother's involvement in the Evangelion Project and the past thirty days had proven that. The only problem was her reluctance to admit it or to accept help. Even then, Shinji didn't know what to do to help her without angering her further.

She shifted again, this time whimpering slightly. Shinji opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

'_I never really considered anyone else in the past few months. I never really considered how what we did affected anyone else, my ideas, my thoughts, my worries I was only thinking about myself so that I wasn't hurt by something happening to someone. I didn't really think about her either, Asuka has been hit hard by this. She found out her mother was involved just like I did, but I was more concerned with feeling guilt for that.'_

Asuka shifted again and Shinji heard her whimpering again. This time louder, almost like she was crying. He got up slowly and made his way around to her. In the moonlight he could make out her face and form. She was sleeping still, but had begun to shift around a lot like she was having a bad nightmare. Shinji positioned himself nearby and whispered.

"Asuka…are you alright?"

He received no response. Of course, he hadn't really expect an answer. He took a deep breath and moved around to the front of the sofa and knelt down beside her. She was still moving around, not really thrashing around violently but still enough to cause him concern. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and whispered again this time a bit louder then before.

"Asuka?"

Again no response from her. Shinji considered giving up and trying to go to sleep again, but he couldn't leave her like this. In the pale moonlight he could see tears forming in her eyes yet he knelt there frozen still. Asuka whimpered again this time though Shinji felt his blood run cold with her words.

"Mama…no…don't leave…I'll die with you I promise."

Shinji's eyes widened when she said that. He placed a hand on her again and began shaking her again, trying to get her to wake up. He didn't care what she did to him when she woke only that she would be out of that terrible nightmare.

"Asuka please, wake up."

He felt her grab his arm and pull him towards her, her eyes flickered open suddenly as she shouted mother loudly. She sat up and looked around frantically trying to discern if she was awake or still trapped in that horrible nightmare. She suddenly became aware of Shinji's presence next to her and her holding his hand firmly. He spoke to her quietly.

"Asuka you were….you were having a bad dream."

She didn't speak. Instead she just gripped his hand tightly. As she remembered the dream she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She had seen it again, the same moment she had seen over twenty years ago. The scene that haunted her, that hung over her and threatened her. She tried to speak but only found herself bursting into tears. From her sitting position she wrapped her arms around Shinji and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Shinji promise me…"

She sobbed loudly and tried to regain her composure, "…promise me you'll never leave me."

He held her against him and whispered into her ear, "I won't ever leave you, I promise."


	23. Turn to the Light

_26__th__ August 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1015 hours**

Shinji almost wished he hadn't requested the footage from the Marduk Institute. Sitting there looking over the same parts repeatedly, scrutinizing every detail just looking for something that would be out of place. Next to him he heard Asuka yawning as he continued to look over the footage.

The particular piece he was looking at was from the day of, or at least the suspected day of, Nagisa's disappearance. Shinji watched it again as the three people entered Nagisa's office, the three people he was scheduled to meet with. Two women and a man entering, then ten minutes later leaving. There was nothing strange about that at all.

Frustrated, he ejected the tape and reached for the one of Nagisa's office. The same one they had viewed prior to the current selection. Behind him he heard Agent Carter sighing in annoyance.

"Mr. Ikari, if we've viewed it several times already and found nothing, then what do you expect to find the next time we view it?"

Shinji tried to stay calm, usually he would have been hard pressed to find a response but due to his lack of sleep and current caffeine dependency he was finding it incredibly easy to get wound up. Especially when the person was Carter.

"We can't discount that these tapes have been altered in some way or that we missed a minor detail, Carter."

"Like what? Are you expecting to find him reaching for a communicator and asking Scotty to beam him up? Face it Ikari, we're at a dead end, we should be looking at other possibilities than your silly theories."

'_If only you knew what was truly happening on this world, would you be so quick to discount me then, you son of a bitch?' _Shinji thought to himself angrily. What was Carter trying to prove by discouraging him all the time? Shinji already knew he was right, Asuka knew the truth, Carter's words were just insignificant to him but still every time Carter spoke them Shinji couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged.

"What other possibilities are there Carter? A guy vanishes in the middle of his office in broad daylight. There are no signs of intrusion, the security footage appears to be spotless and no one aside from the people he was scheduled to meet are seen entering the building and you're the only one who thinks there's a rational explanation. So what exactly are you suggesting happened? You seem to be under the impression he was kidnapped by international terrorists, so what were they? Invisible?"

Carter replied back his voice scathing, "Don't be ridiculous Ikari, we're dealing with something that has been planned down to the most minuscule detail. If you had any sense you'-"

He was cut off by Asuka shouting from her seat, both he and Shinji had forgotten she was there and she did not look pleased. "Can you both please shut up and stop acting like children. Don't we have more important things to worry about than you two arguing, like finding Nagisa?"

"Well then you had better tell Ikari to get out of his dream world and focus on reality."

With those words Carter turned and left the office, Shinji felt Asuka squeezing his hand as he sighed. Dejected he looked at the screen before pausing it and speaking to Asuka, "Sorry I-"

"Don't apologize, he's an obnoxious bastard anyway."

"There's something about him Asuka, I don't know what it is but I…"

Shinji trailed off trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say. He couldn't really think of what he meant. There was something about Carter, something that gave him a bad feeling deep inside. Since the first time they had met it had been there and Carter's reason for being here didn't seem to make sense to him either. He couldn't help but feel that Carter had a different motive for being there than what they knew.

Before he could finish speaking Asuka began to speak, "I know what you mean, it's almost as if he's here to check on us rather than to help us in this case."

Shinji nodded in agreement, but at the same time was surprised that Asuka was of a similar opinion to him, "It doesn't make sense though. Who would send him?"

"I don't know but…well yesterday I caught him talking on his phone to someone, I don't know who. At first I thought it was his superiors but the conversation sounded much stronger than a friendly update. He also mentioned data collection on us."

Shinji looked at her strangely. At the mention of data collection he questioned her, his voice almost accusing her, "What do you mean data collection? How come you didn't mention this yesterday?"

"I…" She trailed off before responding, seeming somewhat annoyed by the tone of his voice, "Look don't blame me for not saying anything, it just slipped my mind yesterday okay…"

She looked away from him back at the screen. The memory of last night had come back to him. The nightmare she had and how she sobbed into his shoulder. He had never seen her like that before.

"Asuka…did something happen between you two yesterday?"

She responded quickly, her voice stern, "I don't want to talk about it Shinji."

He persisted trying to find out more, "Was it related to the night-"

"I said…" She paused, "I don't want to talk about it, please, not here at least."

Shinji sighed, "Okay, fine. I won't persist."

She turned to him, her voice softer than before but still showing her agitation, "Don't take it personally, I just…I don't want to remember that okay."

"Okay, I understand."

Shinji turned around and pressed play on the tape, the footage of the meeting room began to play again. Nagisa and the three others were positioned around the table. This was his last known location. If anything was going to be found, Shinji at least hoped it would be here. Unfortunately for him, this did not appear to be the case. He sighed again and got up. Much to his surprise though, Asuka grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.

"What is it?"

"Look."

She took the pen she was holding and pointed it at the screen, more importantly at Nagisa's desk. On it was an ornament with markings on it. Shinji had never seen it before, but assumed it was just a gift Nagisa had been given over the years as head of Marduk.

Asuka continued speaking, "The first time we watched this that caught my eye for some reason. I wasn't really sure where I had seen it before, but now I just remembered."

Surprised at the discovery he asked her, "Where?"

"It's was on the entrance to the hatch I rescued you from, after Leliel."

**Tokyo 3 Park – 1130 hours**

Kaji sat down next to the old man and looked around. In his hand he was clutching a series of documents and the usual smile on his face was not there. For some reason he was nervous about this meeting, but he didn't fear for his life, rather than for that of others involved.

He was worried that the outcome of today would affect things in a way he had never imagined when he agreed to this. So much had changed compared to what he had known, Misato's pregnancy, Asuka and Shinji's relationship, Nagisa vanishing. None of it was meant to happen and yet it was. It had thrown him off track, away from what he really wanted to do.

Beside him he heard Fuyutsuki clearing his voice and finally speaking, "You're nervous Kaji, usually that's my position."

Kaji chuckled, "I'm nervous before every meeting like this, I just don't let it show. Guess it's all starting to catch up with me now."

Fuyutsuki laughed, "I see. You're starting to get old if you're letting it show Kaji, maybe it's time to settle down and stop taking risks like this."

Kaji frowned, "The risk would be in sitting back and doing nothing. Surely you can understand that."

"I can understand, but then again I'm not in your position. You, however, have increased responsibilities now and playing double agent won't do you any favors. You know how hard the committee can be on people they consider to be a risk or unimportant to them."

Kaji grinned and responded, "Oh I understand, that's why I don't investigate them or make any contact with them except for obtaining Adam. Keel is a powerful man whose motives are known only to him, I'm sure not even the rest of committee are certain of what he wants."

Fuyutsuki thought about it for a moment. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Kaji was correct. Without Kaji they wouldn't have gotten to this stage, but at the same time the death of a trusted friend was not something he wanted to go through at this moment, "So much has changed to what was planned, Ikari has had to take drastic measures to switch it back in our direction, even pulling Ayanami from NERV to make way for SEELE's gift. The doubts I had when this began have increased, I know Ikari only wants…well I don't want to bore you with the details."

Kaji nodded, "I know and that's why I need to continue to prepare the others, even if we do succeed, SEELE or Keel are just going to strike back with even more force. The more I learn now will prepare us for what happens. You're right though, what was planned or the information given to me by you and Ikari has changed. We even have to deal with things that we didn't realize would come into the picture."

Fuyutsuki agreed, "Nagisa for example. And for some reason the committee seems to be showing quite a bit of interest in this one. They even assigned a new Agent to us, Agent Carter, to track him down. I trust your digging has found something."

"Nothing on Nagisa, he is clean as far as I can tell. A little bit too clean, however, his records are pretty scattered. He jumped around from place to place as a child and went to many schools. Didn't really have a chance to settle in any one area. He was fourteen the day the impact occurred…" Kaji paused for the moment, "…and within six years he had a prominent position at the top of Marduk."

"Of course, I remember. It was that year's big success story. Marduk had already made its name and appointing Nagisa was a big step for it. It was part of their idea of looking towards the future. Appointing a twenty year old was a big risk for them but with the state of the country back then it wasn't a surprise."

"It was still unusual though, this guy Nagisa comes from nowhere to head one of Japan's fastest growing corporations. A corporation that at that point was recognized by the UN and doing work all over the world."

"Yes, but no one seemed to question it, how they got that support or why someone so young was there, as far as they were concerned Nagisa was a good person."

"He was, that's why I couldn't find anything on him and that's why his disappearance like this makes no sense. Instead of looking into Nagisa's background I began looking into the history of Marduk instead."

"Of course, and I'm guessing you found something of importance there."

"Naturally, Marduk was backed by one hundred and eight organizations from all over the world when it started off. It received funding from each one of those corporations, again nothing too strange. For a business to start up it needs funding, but one hundred and eight seems a bit excessive…"

He opened the file and turned to a list of businesses, "I investigated a few of the businesses, each one shut down late two thousand and two. No one noticed of course because they were located in literally every area of the world."

"Which means they were…?"

Kaji finished off the sentence for him, "Dummy Companies set up with the sole purpose of backing the Marduk Institute and funding it until it was safe. Then they all close down and are forgotten about, they didn't do anything they were just there."

"No one noticed?"

"No, Marduk was already in the public's eye by then. It had more than enough investors from legit companies for people to notice the dummy companies slipping away. Of course if anyone had bothered to look into it they would notice the same people on the board of each company."

Fuyutsuki frowned and responded, "SEELE…"

He nodded again, "Correct, along with many ex-members of GEHIRN."

"So that means Marduk is just another part of the project, as we suspected?"

"It seems to, but I don't know its connection. And as for Nagisa's disappearance…it doesn't make any sense as to why he'd go."

Fuyutsuki warned him, "I will advise you not to dig any further. Leave it to the Agents we have assigned. I will ensure this information reaches the right people. I would also like you to pass on a message to Agent Katsuragi."

"What message would that be?"

"Tell her 'congratulations.'"

**Ship Crash site - 1315**

Shinji stepped out of the car, the hot sun glaring down on him. This was the first time he had seen this place since being rescued by Asuka. This was also the first time he had been able to see this place for himself without being drugged up. The memories of the night were there, but fragmented. He remembered everything about what Keel had shown him while he was plugged into that strange alien device. He remembered Asuka rescuing him and then being shown what SEELE was trying to achieve.

He found it hard to believe how something like that could go buried here for all that time without anyone even noticing. Although he didn't even know how long it had been buried there, he had to ask himself if it was only there for the purpose of his capture or had it been there for much longer? Were there more of them out there? The thought of that scared him, that there could be more of those out there around the world. They could just attack at any time and that would be it, all over for humanity and it would all be over for them.

Shinji heard Asuka calling across to him, "What's wrong, Shinji?"

He turned and shook his head, "Nothing, I was just…thinking…"

She closed her car door and moved next to him, "Well while you're thinking start searching as well, they've probably cleared up most of the debris by now but I'm sure they can't have cleared everything up."

"Right…"

Asuka took him and showed him where the entrance to the ship had been, there was nothing but sand there anymore. No traces of the ship remained, but for some reason Shinji felt like there was something there.

Asuka sighed, "Looks like it's going to be a tough one, I forgot how long it had been since we were here. They could have cleared it up and buried a new one here by now if they wanted."

Shinji reassured her, "There's something here, we'll find it."

"I hope so, otherwise you're going to be in for a long night."

Shinji nodded in agreement before realizing what she had just said, he looked up at her strangely, noticing she was grinning widely, "What do you mean I'll be in for a long night?"

"Well you don't expect someone as beautiful as me to sift through all this sand looking for pieces of a rusty alien craft do you?"

"Well I…" He sighed, "I guess not…"

Asuka knelt down and prodded him playfully, "You give up too easily Shinji, of course I'm going to help it's just I'm…not really sure how we should start this. Hell I'm not even sure I believe we're doing this…"

"Asuka…what was it like…"

"What are you talking about?"

This time it was Shinji's turn to grin, "Being wrong for a change?"

She frowned at him, "Shut up."

"Sorry."

She sighed and began to explain to him, "It stung if you must know, to have what I thought I believed turn around and kicked right back at me. It was more about pride than anything, I believed so much I was right and you weren't, even with each Angel we faced I was still so convinced. Then I saw the lights over where Leliel captured you, I saw the craft moving overhead as its lights bore down on me Shinji…but I still didn't believe it."

She paused for a moment, not even sure why she was telling him all this. Admitting she was wrong to him, admitting how it hurt her pride, this wasn't something she usually spoke about. She didn't share feelings like this, it was weakness, yet for some reason it was comforting for her. Regardless, she continued speaking.

"Then…well, you know what happened when you were away. What I said about you, that you deserved it and it was your own fault. You were right and I wasn't and I had to deal with that and I just took it out on everyone. Then I came here and I saw another one of those crafts with my own eyes, I stepped inside one and I saw the alien symbols, the device they had you hooked up to and then…well you know what we both saw then."

"SEELE's plan, the one we're getting manipulated into carrying out yet we can't do anything about."

She frowned, "That stings just as much, I joined NERV to prove myself yet how can I do that knowing that everything I've done is just part of a higher plan to hand humanity over to some alien race?"

Her voice began to rise slightly, "How can I succeed against that Shinji? Everything that's happening, I'm useless against it, I'm powerless. I'm not even any use against the Angels anymore. I'm just fodder for them always having to be rescued by you, or Ayanami or even by the damn Angel killing itself."

Shinji reached out to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, "That's not true, you helped me when…when Touji died. You helped rescue me from Leliel and countless other times you've helped me. We'll figure out what to do and I'll be there with you like I promised."

"I guess you're right, it's just I hate being so defenseless. I hate just sitting there being unable to do anything. It's like we're all just dolls for someone's amusement."

She shuddered as she said the word 'dolls', the memory of her nightmare coming back to her slowly. Shinji noticed she was somewhat disturbed but didn't pursue it. Instead he simply reassured her again. "We'll figure out what to do. Keel…my father…whatever they're planning, we'll be there to stop it."

"Is that confidence I hear in your voice there, Ikari?"

He smiled, "A bit."

"There is something I don't understand though."

"What would that be?"

"Your father's involvement in this, he's NERV's director and working directly for Keel and SEELE."

"That's what it looks like."

"So why doesn't Keel trust him, why have we been fed information down from Kaji, Fuyutsuki and him? Information that I'm sure we're not meant to have. Keel only wanted us to be tools to fight the Angels, yet we know much more than we should have and I know you'll hate to hear this…but it's because of your father. Is he working against Keel?"

Shinji frowned as if he had been wondering the same thing himself earlier, but at the same time he didn't want to think about his father. He responded back, not bothering to try to hide the venom in his voice. "Don't be fooled by his act, he's probably working for his own agenda anyway. He's just as bad as Keel is. We can't trust him."

"I'm not saying to trust him, I'm saying we should be careful. If he has his own agenda then we should be careful of that as well."

Shinji nodded and began to move from his position, trying to find something from the crash site. After a few minutes of looking and finding nothing he called back over to Asuka.

"Asuka…what are we trying to find here? Even if we do find something what will that prove?"

He got no response, so he turned around. To his surprise, Asuka was knelt down examining something in the ground. Could she have found something? No, that would be far too convenient, they were only there searching for remnants and even then it was just a whim. His gut told him that something would be here, but finding something that quick was far too convenient.

"You found something?"

She nodded and swept away some of the sand. What was there was not what either of them expected. It was a series of thick black cables buried in the sand. Asuka lifted one of them up as it rose out of the sand and seemed to stop near Shinji's feet. Shinji knelt down himself and began to dig where the cable had stopped. As he dug, he felt his hand rest against a solid rounded object.

He shook his head and thought aloud, "This is too convenient, the chances of this must be a million to one."

She responded slyly, "Yet still they come."

Shinji grinned at her words, surprised that Asuka of all people would have said that. He cleared the area around the object and found what appeared to be a device buried there. On the top of it were a series of flashing blue lights and various symbols scattered around. Shinji recognized immediately the image he had encountered many times before, SEELE's logo.

"Asuka…I don't think we can get this out, do you have a camera with you?"

She nodded, "Yeah its back in the car. What do you think this is?"

Shinji shrugged, completely unsure himself, "I have no idea. It could be a beacon. It would make sense seeing as that other ship was crashed here. Or it could be…well I don't want to say this but we could have just walked into a trap."

She frowned, "A trap?"

"It's possible SEELE wanted us to find this, but I can't think of a reason why. We'll get a few photos of it and try to work out what we can at NERV. Kaji and Misato should be able to help."

**Misato's Residence – 2015 hours**

Shinji paused outside Misato's door and drew his pistol. He cautiously drew himself up against the side of the doorway and knocked three times. He waited a bit more and called through the door, "Misato, its Shinji…"

He waited a few moments more until he heard the door clicking and then opening, he was greeted by both Misato and Kaji. He put his gun away and stepped inside the apartment. As he did so he noticed Misato shaking slightly. He embraced her as Kaji locked the door behind them. Misato let go of him as she led him into the main living area, he questioned her as they walked through.

"What happened?"

She responded back her voice slightly shaky, "Someone was here Shinji. They were after me."

Shinji had never seen this from his former guardian before, she was frightened by whatever had happened. He looked around the apartment and into the kitchen, leading out to the fire escape. "Where?"

"They were outside on the fire escape, I heard a noise from the kitchen and went inside. Then I saw them, a figure outside. I called Kaji and went outside, but they had fled."

"Then what happened?"

"Then everything inside started going weird, the room began to shake and the doors began opening and closing randomly." A tear rolled down her cheek as she continued speaking, "They were after my baby Shinji, I know it."

Shinji's worst fears were confirmed at that moment. He knew Misato would never get this worked up unless she really meant it. He watched as Kaji came in and embraced Misato trying to calm her down, "Calm down Misato, no one's going to get your baby, it's safe."

Shinji looked out across the city. It was unusually dark for this time of year. He took it as a bad omen. Every time an Angel had attacked or something bad had happened to him it had been as pitch black as it was now. He turned to Kaji and spoke, "Kaji, did you see them?"

Kaji nodded, "I only saw them after Misato called me in, but I saw they had an A.T. Field."

"An Angel?"

"Or an Agent of SEELE. They looked to be heading towards NERV. It's only ten minutes from here."

Shinji's expression quickly changed to one of horror, "NERV?"

"Yes, why?"

"I left Asuka at NERV, she's checking on something that we found today for me. I've got to get there immediately, are you two going to be alright?"

Kaji looked at him concerned, "I'll go with you, two people to take down this guy are better than one. Will you be alright here Misato?"

She nodded although still shaken, "I'll be alright, I can still handle a gun. Just…be careful..."

**NERV Offices – 2040 hours**

"Come on Asuka pick up…"

He let the phone ring a few more times before hanging up and stuffing it back into his pocket. It didn't matter anymore, he had already arrived at NERV's headquarters. He looked up at the tall building. It looked even more foreboding than normal as if it had somehow taken on a life of its own.

He quickly made his way through the front door into the main lobby, as expected for this time of night the building was empty. As he made his way towards the main elevators his footsteps echoed all around the hall. He withdrew his gun and began to pick up pace towards the elevators. He felt his free hand begin to clench and unclench nervously, he pressed the button on the elevator and looked around. This was it, he would check on Asuka and she would be alright, he kept on thinking to himself. His stomach was telling him otherwise, that it wouldn't be fine, that whoever it was would have already gotten to her.

'_No Asuka is fine, she's got the Evangelion Serum in her the same as me. She can defend herself. I'm just being stupid…'_

He felt sick as the doors opened and he stepped inside, preparing to go down to the basement level. His thoughts were still racing, _'Nothing to say anything was wrong, it was all normal. Whoever it was, they wouldn't attack NERV would they? That'd be too risky even for an Angel, they were probably scared and ran off in that direction…'_

The belief was short lived when he heard the sound of a gunshot ring out just as the elevator hit the destination. As the elevator doors opened he felt his knees tremble as he aimed directly forward. There was nothing or no one there, he peered down into the darkened corridor and cautiously took a step forward. As he moved someone caught his eye, it was a flashing red light on a device beside the elevator. He picked it up and found that it was an old SDAT device, much like one he used to own, hooked up to a small speaker. He pressed play on the device and the same gunshot sound he had just heard rang out through the corridor.

He cursed under his breath as he set the SDAT player down, whoever was here had already gone and it looked like Asuka had gone as well. He stood up just as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He looked at the caller display and noticed it was Asuka calling him.

"Hello, Asuka?"

He paused for a moment waiting for the reply, the voice that came back over however was not Asuka's voice.

"_Ikari, did you find the nice surprise I left for you down there?"_

Shinji shouted back into the phone, "Carter? What the hell are you doing with Asuka's phone, where is she?"

"_Don't concern yourself over her, she's fine for now. It's time we had a discussion Ikari. Meet me in the dir...Sorry, your father's office..."_

**Directors Office – 2050 hours**

Shinji burst through the door, his gun aimed pointed forwards, he could feel his heart pounding in his ears as he looked around the room. Just as with the basement level there didn't seem to be anyone there. He stepped over to his father's desk and began to examine what lay on top of it. This was unusual for him, the first time he had ever stepped foot inside here willingly and been able to examine in.

Just as he suspected there was hardly anything inside or on the desk. His father was incredibly tidy and didn't seem to care much for bringing or keeping personal items nearby. He looked across and noticed another door leading out of the room into a big meeting room, from inside he could see two figures. One was lying on the floor the other standing over the other.

Shinji made his way into the room. Just as he had expected, Carter was the standing figure. However, he did not seem to be holding any sort of weapon. Asuka, however, was lying on the floor clutching her arm and her own gun was lying just meters away from her.

"Agent Ikari, so glad you could join us."

Shinji didn't respond. Instead, he just aimed his gun at Carter. He felt his finger on the trigger.

"Oh come on Ikari, do you really think you'll be able to shoot me when your hands are shaking like that?"

Shinji replied back, barely able to speak the words, "What do you want, Carter?"

"Haven't you figured that out yet Ikari? And to think the others fell to you so easily. What do you think Shinji? We want an end to this. We want to end it tonight and for that we want you. So if you want Sohryu to live then I would suggest you follow my instructions carefully. If you fail to follow them then I will kill Sohryu."

Shinji felt himself freeze up he looked at Asuka and then back to Carter. He would kill her if he didn't do what Carter said. His mind raced, he knew he should try to attack Carter, to try to end this now. He responded back weakly,

"I…what do you want me to do?"

Asuka tried to shout something out to Shinji, to try to get him to not do this. This only resulted in Carter kicking her swiftly in the spine.

"Mount Asama, meet me there. Come alone, if you fail to do so then I will hurl Sohryu into the volcano."

"I…I'll be there."

"Good."

Shinji turned to head out the door when he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Slowly he turned, only to have Carter shoulder tackle him into the wall. Shinji felt his gun fly out of his hand as he slumped to the floor. He tried to raise his hands to defend himself or to push Carter out of the way.

As he turned his head he noticed Carter had began to change some how. His body was looking more metallic than previously. Shinji dove for his gun and turned to aim it at Carter firing two bullets in his direction. Both were deflected by Carter's A.T. Field. Shinji threw the gun aside and moved towards him, only for he himself to get thrown back by the A.T. Field.

He felt himself hit the wall as Carter stood up, emitting a low growling noise.

"It's…happening earlier than it was supposed to…we will finish this at Asama Ikari."

With those words, Carter picked up Asuka and took a running dive out of the window towards the street. Shinji was ready to dive after him when he felt himself get pulled back by someone else. He turned around ready to attack the person when he found himself looking at Kaji.

Kaji pulled him round and glared at him "Shinji, what did you think you were doing?"

Shinji took a deep breath, his eyes welling up as he watched Carter's A.T Field spread across the pavement. He turned to Kaji and shouted back at him, "He's got Asuka, I can't let him get away!"

"What so you were just going to jump out after him were you?"

"I can project an A.T. Field as well, I would have been…"

"Don't be an idiot Shinji, you don't even know how to project your A.T. Field let alone use it to stop you plummeting to your death."

Shinji spoke weakly slumping to the floor, "I…I just…I wanted to help her."

Kaji didn't feel any sympathy for him, instead he replied back still as sternly as he had before, "Well dying isn't a good way to start."

He paused for a moment, "The final few Angels have coordinated their attacks, this was planned from the start. Nagisa's kidnapping, sneaking one of them inside NERV, we've all been set up."

Shinji wiped his eyes, "Why?"

"Keel is working with them for some reason. I don't know why but he is, just as he worked with Leliel. I just can't explain why Nagisa has vanished, unless he crossed SEELE."

Shinji stood up and put his gun back into his jacket, "I'm going to get some answers from him, he told me to meet him at Mount Asama."

Kaji warned him, "You shouldn't go Shinji, it's most likely a trap."

"And if I don't go he's going to kill Asuka. I'm not letting her die because of my failure to do something. I'm not…" He paused nearly breaking down again, he had to go and do this. Asuka meant everything to him, getting answers meant everything to him and he wasn't going to let another person die because of his failure to do something. He finished speaking, his voice hoarse. "I don't want that to happen again."

**Mount Asama – 2300 hours**

Shinji stepped out of the car and looked straight ahead. There was nowhere to hide this time and there was no use sneaking around. He looked off into the distance and spotted a set of devices on the ground around him. Each device was emitting a faint blue light and pointing up at the sky. As he made his way over towards them he spotted a set of thick cables connecting each one. He recognized them straight away as the same things he and Asuka had seen earlier that day. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard Carter's voice coming from the darkness.

"Recognize them Ikari? They're homing beacons for our crafts. They are the very things we're going to be using when we colonize your planet."

Shinji turned, aiming his gun towards Carter. Carter had now fully changed. He no longer looked human but now looked completely metallic. Shinji noticed another figure Carter was holding up, an unconscious Asuka. Shinji stepped forward calling her name.

"Asuka…"

Carter brought one of his hands back and then straight forward, stabbing Asuka through the back. Shinji watched in horror as the blade attached to Carters arm went straight through her body sticking out of the front. Carter slowly withdrew it and threw Asuka to the floor in front of Shinji.

Shinji knelt down in front of her to see if she was alright, only to have Carter knock him off of his feet. He felt himself hit the ground as Carter stood over Asuka, again preparing to bring the blade down, his metallic face contorting into a sickening grin.

"I'm under strict instructions not to kill you Ikari, your colleague however, I can do as I wish. I know I said I wouldn't kill her but where you're going it won't matter to you anymore."

Shinji quickly got up and began to run towards Carter only to be pushed back by his A.T. Field. The force of the field was like nothing Shinji had felt before, he screamed out in pain as Carter laughed at him.

"Not like anything you've encountered is it Ikari? I was designed as the ultimate war machine by GEHIRN, by your father. He oversaw my creation, he and the rest of the scientists watched as I took apart villages and killed hundreds all in the name of research."

Shinji rushed forward again, once again clattering with the A.T. Field. This time however he was not thrown back instead he stood his ground. Around him he felt his own A.T. Field project forwards trying to cancel out the other field.

Both the fields stopped as Shinji dropped to his knees, weakened slightly. Carter made his way over to him and picked him up. Shinji quickly shook off Carter's hand and delivered a kick to his stomach. Carter recoiled slightly as the metallic body absorbed the blow.

"I was hoping we could do this the easy way Ikari, I can't kill you but they don't care about the condition they get you in."

Shinji didn't hear the words anymore, all he saw in front of him was that alien, that monster that had tried to kill him and Asuka. He moved forward and swung at him, only to have it blocked and to be thrown to the ground again. Carter stood over him and picked him up, delivering a blow to the stomach. He followed it up with another blow and then delivered one directly to Shinji's head.

Shinji slumped to the floor, tasting his own blood as he struggled to get up on his feet. He felt Carters presence behind him and quickly elbowed the Angel. He followed up with a punch to the stomach only to have Carter's metallic body seemingly absorb the attacks. Carter laughed at him,

"I told you Ikari, I was designed to be the ultimate war machine. Anything you hit me with will only make me stronger."

Carter brought up one of the blades again, Shinji noticed this time where they were from. They were actually a part of his arm. It had actually formed from the metallic substance he was made out of. Carter reached back and prepared to drive the blade into Shinji's arm. Shinji grabbed hold of Carters arm, screaming out as he felt the sharpened blades digging into his hand. He drove his arm around straight back into Carter's own body sending him reeling back a few steps.

Shinji dove at him, bringing him to the ground. He aimed his gun at Carter's head and fired twice at point blank range. He felt LCL splattering all over his clothing as he reached back and fired again. He reached back again, his senses completely lost as he drove the butt of the gun into Carter's head. Each sickening blow splattered more LCL onto Shinji and onto the ground.

He reached back again and was about to drive the gun into him again when he heard a faint rumbling noise from around him. The ground began to shake as the blue lights from the devices increased in power. He looked up at a familiar sight, a huge craft floating over him, seemingly having come out of nowhere.

All of a sudden a series of spotlights switched on from the bottom of the craft, flooding the area with an intense white light. Shinji scrambled over towards Asuka and knelt down near her, trying to pick her up. He felt weakened, though unable to do anything. He turned around and looked up at the craft, it seemed to be almost…inviting him.

He felt a strange sense of warmth spread through his body as he knelt looking up into the light. He turned as another figure appeared next to him and Asuka, he looked up at her and whispered her name.

"Ayanami?"

He shook his head. No, it wasn't Ayanami, it was the same person he had seen in the forest that time. The same person who he had thought had looked like Ayanami but she was different. She didn't share the short blue hair, or the same expression. This person was smiling at him, almost like she was…

"Mother…?"

He turned back to Asuka and noticed she had opened her eyes and was looking at him, he felt tears rolling down his cheeks and he reached down and stroked her cheek.

"Shinji…what's happening?" She questioned him weakly.

"I…It'll be alright Asuka, nothing's going to happen. I'm here with you."

Asuka looked into his eyes and reached out her own hand to caress him, she felt his tears drop down onto her cheek and roll down mixing with her own. She closed her eyes again as she waited for him to help her up. Nothing happened though, she opened them again, and the light had gone, subsided. The roar of the alien craft had ceased and Shinji had gone, vanished, leaving her wounded and alone.


	24. Farewell

_4th September 2015_

**Mt Asama – 1130 hours**

Asuka sat with her head resting on the steering wheel and her eyes fixed firmly ahead. Just as she had expected she was the only agent to have turned up. Although she had expected it, it angered her that no one else within NERV seemed to care that Shinji had gone, she didn't expect every Agent to suddenly leave what they were doing, but still the fact that a fellow Agent had gone missing is still a big deal. Maybe the thought of him being gone pleased them or they just didn't care.

Why was she the only one that seemed to care? She had never cared about anyone in the past, never wanted to rely on anyone, or get attached to anyone. She was her own person, she didn't need anyone. What was is about Shinji that made her feel different, was it that they were both caught in the same net? That they were both being manipulated the same way? If that was the case then why had she had feelings for him before she had learned of SEELE's plans.

Or was it something else, was it because she knew how similar they were, she just couldn't bring herself to admit it? Until now, until she knew it was too late. In many ways what had happened proved to her why she shouldn't get attached, because she would only get abandoned and hurt.

She sighed and sat back in her seat, _'Shinji you idiot…Why did they have to take you?'_

This was becoming a ritual for her. Every day since she had checked out of the hospital she had came here. Hoping to find some trace, some hint to where he was or just hoping that she'd turn up here and he'd be standing there waiting for her. Today though she was here officially, she had swallowed her pride and asked for assistance on the case. She had sent a message round saying she would be here and that she would be leading the search.

She coughed and instantly clutched her ribs in pain. She felt under her shirt at the bandages that had been put into place, another thing to make her feel worse, to make her feel useless. She had been unable to do anything against Carter. She had been easily manipulated and easily dealt with. Then Shinji had to come to her aid again while she lay there, unable to do anything while he fought for her and she hated him for it. That was her strongest emotion from it, not sadness but hatred because Shinji fought because of her and then simply abandoned her and left her to die. She hated herself for thinking this way because she knew it wasn't his fault. She knew he couldn't be blamed for it and that it was out of his hands, but she couldn't help it.

She hated Carter for getting into NERV so easily, for manipulating her and then nearly killing her. Yet again she hated herself just as much for letting it happen to her. She had known there was something about him but why couldn't she have seen it coming? Why did she let him manipulate her? Why did she follow him when he said he needed help finding something on the tapes? Why was she so slow to react when he pulled her own gun on her?

'_I hate waiting…I hate people…I hate NERV…'_

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of someone tapping on her car window. She looked out and saw Kaji standing by the car. She hadn't even heard or seen him pull up. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts a Mexican mariachi band could have walked past her car and she probably wouldn't have noticed.

She rolled down her window and smiled at the sight of him, "Kaji, I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't think…I didn't think anyone else knew about this investigation."

She groaned inwardly at her attempt to try to save face in front of him. He would have been the first to know she had asked for assistance, there was no use covering it up. Why did she even bother? To save what little pride she had after much of it had been torn away by Carter, she started to think to herself just what the point in pride was anymore?

"They don't Asuka, that's why I'm here."

She looked at him surprised, "What do you mean they don't?"

He walked around to the other side of the car and got into the passenger side. He rubbed his head and prepared himself for the inevitable backlash from the red headed Agent. "Look Asuka, that message you sent out. It was deleted, removed. That's why no one has turned up today. That's why no one knows about Shinji's abduction and why I'm here."

He prepared himself for whatever she might do, having been her guardian for some time in the past he had seen her angry and what she did to people that angered her. He was sure that whatever she was about to do wouldn't be pleasant.

A few moments passed as she sat contemplating what he had just said, she then turned to him and much to her surprise she didn't hit him or yell at him. Instead she smiled and nodded, "I see…on whose orders?"

Kaji breathed a sigh of relief and began to explain, "The director, Shinji's father did. He didn't want anyone beyond your department to get involved in it. He said that if SEELE were able to get an Agent in like that so easily and were able to abduct Shinji like that then they might try it again. He wants to keep it quiet for now. He is, however, giving you free reign to get him back."

"Who will I have helping me?"

"You will have mine and Misato's full cooperation with this, she wants Shinji back just as bad as you do. You will also have the aid of Deputy Director Fuyutsuki."

"Why is the Director suddenly taking such a big interest in his son?"

"Because without Shinji his scenario is doomed…and SEELE will win."

_7__th__ September 2015_

**Director's Office – 1030 hours**

Fuyutsuki glanced out of the window, his expression grim. It had been two weeks since Zeruel, and if he was paranoid about SEELE and everything going wrong before, Shinji vanishing had only amplified that feeling. He looked across at the director, even he had changed since it had happened. Fuyutsuki wasn't quite sure if it was because Shinji had been abducted or if it was because SEELE and Keel had outwitted him, but he was directing his own efforts into regaining Shinji and, more importantly, the key to beating SEELE.

"It's been nearly two weeks Ikari and still no trace, they've covered their tracks well this time."

"It's only a matter of time until something is found Fuyutsuki. All we can do now is wait until we get the reports from Sohryu's team."

"Are you sure it was wise having her lead the team? It wasn't long ago that she was expendable and now she is leading the team to get Shinji back. I thought you would have had Rei conduct the search."

Gendo smiled and nodded, "Things change Fuyutsuki. We have to constantly adapt our scenario because of Keel. We have had to take into account variations that we did not plan for. As much as I hate admitting it I was wrong, we were wrong about Sohryu. She has become just as important to the scenario as Shinji or Rei."

Fuyutsuki nodded, knowing that it must have been serious if Gendo was admitting he was wrong. Although he supposed that the reason she was now so important was because of the relationship her and Ikari's son seemed to have developed. It was something they hadn't thought about when they had assigned Sohryu to the Evangelion project, yet at the same time it was something that potentially made it easier for them to achieve their goal.

"The relationship Sohryu and your son have…it's nice to see that develop."

"I agree, yet we must not lose sight of our true goal. Shinji…he hates me now, but if he knew what we were trying to do then he would understand."

Fuyutsuki chuckled slightly, "Is that an admission of guilt?"

Ikari spoke back, his voice still stern, "I do not admit guilt. Although I am not proud of all my actions, I do not feel guilt for any of them. After Yui died I had to do something. Sending Shinji away was my only choice. If I had not then the committee would have started the Evangelion Project much sooner and we would not be in the position we are in now."

"Of course, what is the committees' stance on Shinji's disappearance?"

"As far as they're concerned it is not their problem. They are claiming ignorance in the knowledge that Agent Carter was an Angel and as far as Shinji's abduction goes they do not control the Aliens actions, they are merely a liaison."

"Sounds like them…"

Gendo continued speaking, "That's why I'm accepting Rei's request to be reassigned to NERV. It shall be much easier for her to continue her previous assignment there as well. It will, however, create another problem with Sohryu."

"You mean what happened at Asama?" Fuyutsuki asked him.

"Indeed, I do not think Sohryu will be too pleased with what happened. She has a temper similar to her mother's"

"Do you think Rei will be able to handle her?"

"I believe she will be able to make Sohryu understand. Rei has been acting differently since we took her away from NERV, even more so since it was confirmed that Keel contacted her."

Gendo paused for a moment before continuing, "Keel is trying to manipulate her the same way he was able to manipulate Shinji. Using the knowledge of her origins and how she was brought up as leverage against me."

Fuyutsuki nodded, not really too concerned. He knew Keel was very manipulative but he also knew how strong Rei could be. "Surely Rei will be able to handle that though, it may be unsettling for her but I do not think Keel will be able to manipulate her."

"I do not want to take any risks though, that is why I am giving her what she wants for now. She knows how important she is to me and the future and I do not think she would allow Keel to sway her easily. Yet at the same time there is so much at stake here, Keel wasn't just after Shinji on that night. He sent Carter to kidnap two people, if we didn't station Rei where we did he would have succeeded. We need to ensure Rei is definitely on our side."

_14__th__ September 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1315 hours**

Asuka sat looking directly at Shinji's desk. It was close to three weeks now since he had disappeared, yet she could still sense his presence there. She could almost see him sitting, staring down at whatever they were working on. His expression whenever she would shoot down something he said or his eyes lighting up whenever she agreed with him.

There was still only her, Kaji and Misato working on locating him. According to Kaji the Director, Shinji's father, was also working on it but she didn't see any proof of this. She laughed at the idea that the director was actually doing anything. As far as she was concerned he couldn't care less and was only saying that to try to save face and ensure Asuka didn't go talking with the other Agents.

That wasn't all she had to worry about though, NERV was still under heavy pressure to locate Kaworou Nagisa. With only her working on two cases, neither one was making any progress. Misato and Kaji had tried to help her, they even had a session going through all the possibilities but it was useless.

All they had to go on was the crash site and the Mt. Asama site and they had been to Asama so many times since the incident. For once Asuka actually wished that someone would drop a hint like they had before, that's how this had always started. An anonymous tip off, or a random guess based on what they had found, but nothing had been found.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door. She called across for the person to enter. The door opened and the person stepped inside, making their way towards Asuka's desk. Asuka, however, had her head down and did not take any notice until the person spoke.

"Excuse me, Agent Sohryu?"

Asuka turned her head slightly and looked wide eyed up at the person who had just entered. She blinked to make sure it wasn't an illusion and then blinked again, just to double check.

'_What the hell is she doing here?'_

Asuka replied back casually, "Ayanami, what can I do for you?"

"I have been assigned by Director Ikari to work with you on locating his son. I have also been reassigned back to this section in the case of another Angel attack."

Asuka smiled slightly, not really sure what to make of the situation. Although she wasn't going to admit it, she could have done with the extra help. The only problem with this 'extra help' was it was coming in the form of someone Asuka wasn't even sure she could trust. In fact, it was coming in the form of someone Asuka wasn't even sure she liked. It was unusual, but now she found herself in the same position Shinji probably was when she had first stepped through that door. She wasn't sure if Rei had another motive or if she was here on her own.

"So you're the help that Director Ikari said he was going to send. Better late than never I suppose."

Rei looked at her and began to speak, "I am not the help Director Ikari mentioned. I requested to be assigned to work with you. I wanted to help you."

The announcement took Asuka by surprise. Up until now she had thought that Rei was incapable of making her own decisions. Although she still wasn't sure it was not just some ploy to gain her trust, she was slightly relieved that she would be gaining Ayanami's assistance willingly. At least she knew Ayanami as opposed to another Agent sent by SEELE.

"You wanted to help me?"

Rei nodded, "Yes."

"Why?"

Rei thought about the question and wasn't really sure of how to answer it. She didn't really have a good reason, just that she wanted to. "I…do…"

Asuka shook her head. "Never mind, I guess you can tag along with me for a while then. I'm just about to head out now anyway, so if you want to come you can." She paused then continued, "In fact you are coming with me, there are some questions I want answered when we get there."

**Ship Crash site – 1345 hours**

Asuka pulled the car up and looked at the site in mild shock. No longer was it an empty waste desert area, but now a chain link fence had been set up around the area and huge rounded tents had been set up over where they had found the craft and the devices they had found.

Asuka swore under her breath and switched the car engine off. She turned to Rei and asked her angrily, "Who are they?"

Rei looked out at the tents, "SEELE's people. Keel probably wanted to make sure you didn't find anything else."

"So you know we found something then?"

"Director Ikari told me you had located the crash site and some of the beacons. He said that SEELE would probably know this as well and that they would want to stop you from returning."

Asuka eyed her suspiciously. It was strange, but Rei was unusually talkative. Although it was about what she was being asked, it was still a bit unusual to hear Rei actually answer her instead of trying to cover up.

"So what were these 'beacons'?"

"They are landing beacons for the crafts they use. There are sites scattered throughout the country and in other parts of the world."

"So this is what they'll be using when all the Angels are gone?"

"Yes."

Asuka looked back out at the tents. A part of her wanted to get inside the complex to see what was happening inside but she knew it was too risky. Her first priority was to get Shinji back and she wouldn't be much use for that if she was dead. There didn't seem to be any entrance into the complex either, the fence was electrified and there seemed to be small outposts set up at certain points.

Asuka started the car engine up and began to reverse away from the site, as she moved away she questioned Rei again.

"So why did Ikari assign you somewhere else, what were you doing during the time we had SEELE's Angel assigned to work with us?"

"I was told it was for my own protection that I could not work with you two for that time period. I was…elsewhere during that time."

Asuka pushed the subject, trying to find out more, "Elsewhere? Not really much of an answer, what were you doing?"

Rei replied again trying to avoid the subject. "I was assigned to another mission."

Asuka snapped back, her voice slightly raised, "What mission? Look Ayanami I'm not going to lie to you. I don't like you. After what you did to us at the start of this whole mess who can blame me, but I want to know what you were doing. If you want to help me find Shinji you're going to have to tell me."

"I was…Ikari assigned me to watch over Katsuragi to ensure Carter did not do anything. The night of Shinji's disappearance I was the one who chased him away from her apartment and towards NERV."

Asuka stopped the car there and looked at her. Carter had been to Katsuragi's on that night and had been chased towards NERV. Rei had already known Carter was an Agent of SEELE, yet Rei had been silent.

"You…you knew he was working against us?"

"Yes…"

"You knew all along yet you didn't say anything. You could have stopped him yet you just let him…"

"I was following orders."

Asuka cut her off and began shouting at her, "To hell with your fucking orders, that bastard took Shinji, he stabbed me, Ayanami. Have you even seen what he did?

Asuka lifted up her shirt, exposing the bandages wrapped around her to Ayanami. Rei tried not to look as Asuka continued shouting at her. "Look Ayanami, I nearly bled to death on that mountain while you did nothing. You just stayed there following your orders like the doll that you are. Is this why you're here now? Is this just another order for you to follow?"

Rei didn't lift her head up. Instead she just spoke quietly, "I'm sorry I…"

"You're sorry? Well isn't that convenient, the doll can apologize. So what did Director Ikari tell you, to just sit back while two of his Agents were nearly killed?"

Rei felt a deep sadness inside of her as Asuka finished speaking. She could feel the backs of her eyes burning as for the first time tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. She tried to regain her composure to respond. "No he didn't. He told me to stay and watch Katsuragi's apartment until you and Ikari had dealt with the angel."

Asuka shouted back, not even caring what Ayanami had just said. As far as she was concerned it was all a lie and Ayanami was just trying to make up a way to get herself out of it. "Watch Katsuragi's apartment? What sort of excuse is that, she can handle herself why would she need you to watch over her?"

"Because her baby is in danger, Carter was after both her and Ikari."

"Her baby is in danger? What possible use could SEELE have for a baby?"

"I haven't been told…"

"How convenient, Wondergirl manages to avoid the question again."

"Sohryu I'm…sorry."

Rei felt the tears rolling down her cheeks as she apologized, she turned away from Asuka and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Asuka glanced directly ahead, not caring about the state of her 'colleague'. Instead she just started the car back up and drove towards Tokyo 3 again.

Much to her surprise, Rei began speaking again although Asuka wasn't really taking much notice of her.

"I made a mistake by requesting to be reassigned…"

Asuka snapped back, "That's an understatement. What, did you think I'd just forgive you when you told me you stood by and did nothing? Just because you're ordered to do something doesn't mean it's the best course of action."

"I know, that's why I went to Asama…"

Asuka pushed further. She couldn't believe the nerve of Ayanami. Was that supposed to make her feel any better? That she turned up later, why couldn't she have been there from the start?

"Well you got there a bit late didn't you. If you had arrived maybe…before I was stabbed and left for dead, maybe Shinji wouldn't have been captured and maybe now I wouldn't feel immense pain with each movement. But never mind, better late than never I guess. So what did you find first when you got there, my pool of blood or the beacon powering down?"

Rei took a while to respond, eventually the response came sending a chill down Asuka's spine. "I found you…"

_20__th__ September_

**Tokyo 3 Park**

Kaji turned into the park and moved swiftly towards the large group of people. Although he and the others were heavily wrapped up in locating Shinji Ikari, they still had other priorities, one of these being the search for Kaworou Nagisa, the president of the Marduk Institute. It was beginning to approach thirty days since Shinji had vanished and still they had found nothing. At that same time though, it was approaching nearly sixty since Nagisa had vanished and now the media had pounced on it.

That was the purpose of this event that had been set up, many people gathered had speculated as to the true purpose of it. Now that it wasn't a big secret that Nagisa was missing many people were wondering just what this meant for Marduk and the so called 'wonder vaccine' they were working on.

Kaji himself wondered what this meant. From what he had gathered, Nagisa was SEELE's chosen front man. The puppet on the string so to speak, he would handle all the media attention and dealing with others while SEELE fed him instructions. Quite a comfortable job if you don't get on their bad side, Kaji thought to himself. Unfortunately for Nagisa that seemed to be the case.

The problem lay there, if Nagisa did indeed get on their bad side then why would SEELE have disposed of him like this? Why would they have had him vanish without a trace? A sudden disappearance didn't make any sense, if SEELE were to have him killed they'd have it specially staged, not just him vanished. Too much was riding on Nagisa for him to vanish at a moment like this. Kaji was definitely sure there was more to this than Nagisa just getting on their bad side, there had to be and he intended to find it.

This open press conference today was supposed to be Marduk establishing what had happened with Nagisa and supposedly announcing replacements. It was these replacements that interested Kaji the most. It was not just one replacement but a team of replacements, a fact which interested him greatly. Would it not be easier for SEELE to control a single person than a group?

Kaji became aware of a presence behind him and turned to find Asuka standing behind him. She glared up at the stage and the huge screen baring the Marduk Institute Logo, the octagonal logo with the words Marduk Institute wrapped around a symbol. It was a logo that she had seen hundreds of times, both on her investigations of Nagisa's disappearance and in general news stories featuring them.

She stared across at Kaji who seemed to be fixed on the logo, although there was a look of determination in his face like he was in deep thought about it. Asuka couldn't really understand why he had asked her to come here. Although she knew that the case on Nagisa was still open, she had thought the focus had shifted towards Shinji for now. It wasn't really the way she should be thinking, if anything the Nagisa case should have taken priority, but they were stuck on both fronts.

"Kaji, why did you call me here?"

"There's something I wanted you to see. Something which I think you'll find interesting."

"For the Nagisa case?"

Kaji nodded, "Perhaps…"

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"Just watch, it's starting."

Asuka turned her eyes back to the stage to see a woman in a black suit make her way towards the microphone and podium that had been set up. Towards the front of the crowd news crews excitedly prepared their cameras and reporters. Other areas of the crowd had their eyes fixed firmly on the woman wondering what would happen now.

A few moments passed and the woman finally began to speak,

"Good evening, thank you to each and every one of you who has shown up on this day. Many of you are probably wondering why we are holding an event like this in public. We at Marduk decided that with everything that has been reported in the press for the past two months that it was time to set some things straight. Seeing as we are a very public company and we enjoy that relationship we have with the public we thought it best to settle this with an event like this as opposed to an event held behind closed doors from the desk of an executive."

She paused for a moment, taking time for everyone in the crowd to settle down, "Now, as I said there have been a lot of reports lately about the institute. The aim of this event is to put to rest some of the rumors that have been flying about. The first of which is the one which started all this controversy, the whereabouts of the man in charge of Marduk, Kaworou Nagisa."

Again there was a slight pause. Asuka fixed her eyes directly on the screen wishing she had never come here. Nagisa's disappearance was just another constant reminder that she was failing: Failing to find Nagisa, failing to find Shinji, failing to beat the Angels and ultimately failing to stop SEELE. She felt her fist clench slightly and her nails dig into the palms of her hand.

"Kaji, I'm going to go home now…"

She turned to leave as he grabbed her arm, "Wait, keep on watching."

The woman at the front began speaking again, "A lot of papers and news shows reported that Mr. Nagisa had gone missing. I am pleased to report that these reports were in fact untrue."

Asuka turned her head swiftly, glaring at the stage as the woman continued, "Mr. Nagisa was in fact at a research facility checking on the final stages of the vaccine to be released at the end of this year. Unfortunately, there was a communication problem hence why there has been no news on this until today. We would have said something earlier however we did not expect the huge media frenzy and due to the communication breakdown we ourselves were unsure of the situation."

Asuka stared on at the crowd of reporters, who began muttering amongst themselves. She turned to Kaji who was glaring onwards, awaiting her to say something. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, did that mean that the entire Nagisa case, Carter being assigned to them, and Shinji being abducted was for nothing? Nagisa was alive and well and they were just being led on?

That couldn't be the case, though she thought to herself, Marduk themselves had contacted NERV. They had cooperated with them. They had given them the video camera footage. Why would they make this entire thing up? Why would they stage a disappearance like this?

She felt anger inside her, yet another common feeling of the last few weeks. Everything she was doing just seemed to have no purpose. It was as if she was just being set up to fail and look worthless in front of everyone. She restrained herself from doing anything and continued watching the conference, one of the news reporters had just called out a question she too would like to know the answer too.

"What about the NERV Agents who were spotted investigating the Marduk Building? What was their purpose there?"

The woman cleanly smiled and responded into the microphone, "I'm afraid you have been misinformed, there was no investigation by NERV or otherwise."

"That lying bitch, how can she stand there and say that after the effort we put into this?"

"Marduk is on SEELE's payroll Asuka. That's how she can stand there and say that."

"What…what do you mean?"

"I wanted you to be here to see this announcement and what happens next. Most of these journalists, they'll accept this easily. Marduk is the one thing in this world that can deliver hope, look at all they've done. We can see how feeble it is but everyone here will eat it up. They will believe that Nagisa is away somewhere working on something."

"Did you know they'd announce this?"

"I've been investigating SEELE for years Asuka, trying to find something to aid us in our fight against them. Ikari and Fuyutsuki can only do so much, I know it sounds weird but everything they have done…all the manipulation, all the hiding in shadows, you'll understand why they have to do that. We're the good guys Asuka."

"If they're the good guys then why don't they just come clean with what's happening? Why do they always have to operate like they do?"

"Because not even they know just how far SEELE's power extends. The Marduk Institute is just another front for SEELE. They're controlling it and for some reason they wanted to get rid of Nagisa. Now they have us thinking he's in a research facility but it's not true, we need to find him. If we do then he can lead us to Shinji."

Asuka thought on his words for a moment and then the questioning of the woman stopped, she announced boldly to the rest of the people. "Okay, that's enough questions for now. If you have more then please save them for a few minutes time. I have just been informed that we have been linked up with the research facility and Nagisa himself."

The screen with the Marduk logo on it began to flicker slightly as they began the video feed. It was quickly replaced by the image of Kaworou Nagisa looking directly into a camera and smiling slightly. Asuka almost shivered as she looked at his eyes, she got a feeling that even though he was probably thousands of miles away he was directly in front of her.

This didn't make sense though, didn't Kaji just say it was a pretense and a lie that Nagisa was actually missing? She turned to Kaji who seemed to be lost for words, he turned around and began moving away. Asuka quickly caught up with him and demanded to know what was happening. "What the hell was that Kaji? I thought they were supposed to be lying?"

"I don't know Asuka, I really don't know…"

He trailed off as she looked up at the stage, her eyes fixed on another person this time. She turned to Kaji who had started to walk away again, "Wait a minute, who is that on the stage?"

He took a quick look at the person and shook his head, "I don't know, I assumed it was one of the people who were supposed to be taking over operations here but now that Nagisa seems to be safe and well, I don't know anymore."

She watched Kaworou speaking to the crowd and then make reference to the people, "Unfortunately I will be unable to make it back here until the unveiling of the vaccine. Due to this I will be handing over control of the Marduk Tokyo 3 office to the three people sitting on the stage. The first of which is, a man who has worked on several projects for Marduk in the past, Dr. Benjamin Mittelos."

There was a pause as the crowd applauded. Once the applause had died down Nagisa continued. "The second person is someone who was working in Marduk's American Office, a prominent figure in the area of fertility and stem cell research, 'Dr Juliette Widmore.'"

The crowd applauded again as they got to the final person the person Asuka was most interested in. There was something about the woman that she couldn't quite place like she had seen the person before.

"And now to the final person, this person has been an influential part of Marduk for the past few years. She is one of the key members of the team for the vaccine to be released, 'Megumi Seki.'"

The crowd applauded again as Asuka tried to remember where she had seen the person before. As the person stood and made there way towards the microphone it suddenly hit her, _'She was the person meeting with Nagisa on the day he supposedly vanished!'_

_25__th__ September 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1700 hours**

"He can't do this, we still haven't found him yet!" Asuka shouted, not quite believing what she had just been told.

Fuyutsuki shook his head and responded back to her, "That's precisely why he is doing this Sohryu, like it or not we're still here to do a job. What happened to Ikari is unfortunate but after thirty days finding nothing we cannot afford to waste more resources on chasing after shadows. We still have a duty to fill as Agents here."

Asuka lowered her head and prepared to shout a response back at the old man only to have Misato cut her off, "I understand, we will comply with your order."

"Good, I apologize for what has happened but you must understand Ikari knew the risks when he joined NERV…"

"He didn't know that he would be used as a pawn in some stupid game between the director and some committee hell bent on taking us over though. A risk is getting shot and killed deputy director, not being turned into a human weapon."

"I understand you must be angry Sohryu, but it is out of our hands now. Please do not go searching for him, there is nothing more that can be done."

Misato bowed her head and spoke, "Will…will there be a service for him?"

Fuyutsuki nodded, "Yes there will in a few weeks. Please forgive me, I have some work to do."

Fuyutsuki left the room, leaving Misato to deal with a fuming Asuka. It was so hard to believe, thirty days had passed and he was still gone and now it looked like he was gone for good. Misato felt numb, she didn't know whether she should just walk away or fall to her knees crying. She looked across at Asuka whose eyes were fixed directly on her, a disgusted look across her face.

"How…how could you let them stop us so easily?"

"We don't have a choice Asuka, we spent thirty days trying and found nothing. We failed. We don't have a lead. We don't have anything to show for it except an empty desk."

Asuka winced at the word 'failed'. It felt worse than when she had been stabbed, "Don't tell me I've failed, I'm not giving up on this."

"Asuka please, if you do anything you'll only make it worse. What can you do? We've already tried everything."

Asuka shouted back, "We haven't tried anything Misato, from the very beginning of this we were just set up to fail. I can't accept that, there's one place we haven't looked yet, one place I keep on mentioning but everyone ignores it."

"You know why it's ignored Asuka if you go there it's…its suicide."

"How do we know that Misato?" Asuka demanded, "Because we were told that? Well how fucking convenient, just like everything else about what's going on here."

"We don't but that doesn't mean you should risk your life like that, Shinji wouldn't want you to."

Misato reached her arm out to try to calm the red head down only to have it viciously swiped away as Asuka stood up yelling at her, "To hell with what Shinji would want."

Asuka felt tears threatening to form in her eyes, she blinked them away angrily before continuing to yell. "You and the rest of them can believe he's gone but I'm not giving up. I'm not losing this time."

_26__th__ August 2015_  
**Mt Asama**

"Mother…?"

Asuka opened her eyes slowly at the sound of his voice. She looked up and saw him staring up at the huge craft above them. In front of him she could make out the ghostly form of someone else.

She tried to move but felt an immense pain shoot through her body. She turned her head and saw the blood trickling out of her, seeping out of the wound from where Carter had wounded her. She tried to lift her head again to try to get Shinji's attention, to try to take him away from whoever the figure was.

Maybe there wasn't even a figure there, maybe it was just a strange hallucination. Asuka had died when she was wounded and this was some strange type of afterlife. She watched as Shinji turned and noticed her. He quickly made his way over to her. She could see the blood on his hands and on his clothes, had he taken care of Carter?

He knelt down near her and lifted her head up, gently resting it on his knee. It was so warm she thought to herself like she could stay there forever. She gazed up into his eyes and noticed faint tears rolling down his cheeks and splashing onto her own body.

"Shinji…what's happening?" She whispered to him hoarsely.

He gently stroked her cheek as he responded, "I…It'll be alright Asuka, nothing's going to happen. I'm here with you."

She gazed firmly into his eyes and weakly began to lift her arm to caress him cheek. As she did so she felt her own tears rolling down her face mixing with his. Weakly, she closed her eyes, nearly passing out from the constant pain she was in and waited for Shinji to help her. A few moments passed and nothing happened. Weakly, she re-opened her eyes. Everything had gone, the lights, the craft, the rumbling of the engines and most importantly to her, Shinji.

It had all vanished and she was left there on the side of the mountain wounded and alone. She waited a few moments hoping that maybe he would be back, but with each moment she felt herself slipping away more and more. This was it she thought to herself, her luck had finally run out and no one would be there to rescue her.

'_So…this is how it ends for the great Asuka Langley Sohryu…left alone on the side of a mountain bleeding to death…guess I'll be coming to see you soon mother…'_

She blinked twice as she noticed another figure move into her view, it didn't matter though. Whoever it was, they were too late. She was already dead, it would just be futile to help her now. It was strange though, there was almost something familiar about the person as if they had met before.

'_Guess this is my life flashing before my eyes part…not quite what I expected…I hate this world.'_

**Misato's Residence – 2000 hours**

"Asuka was really upset at what happened back at NERV..."

Misato shifted slightly, moving herself up into a sitting position as she gazed out of the window. She had been thinking about what had happened back at NERV for the past few hours. Why did she accept it so easily? Did she really believe Shinji was dead and would never return? Or was it just a convenience, an easy way out so that she didn't have to worry about finding him in an even worse condition?

'_Asuka was disgusted with the way I acted back there…I can't blame her really, after all I put her through with Leliel and to just accept he's dead so easily…I'm disgusted with myself.'_

It was still hard for her to believe though that in NERV's eyes he was gone, it was so unfair that given the circumstances they would just tell them to give up like that. Even if they hadn't given up though, she had to wonder what exactly could have been done. Shinji had not been captured by terrorists and taken to a remote location miles away from Tokyo 3. He had been ripped from the Earth, taken up. Maybe it would be best to think of him as dead, there was no way they could get him back now.

'_I can't do anything anyway…soon I'm going to have to stop working…I have other things to think about. What use am I going to be then? I won't be able to help them, and even now I'm restricted because of the security placed on me.'_

Misato looked out across the skyline trying to find said 'security'. She knew it was useless, Ayanami would be too well hidden. It was a scary thought though, that even though Ayanami was supposed to be protecting her she didn't even know where Ayanami was. She didn't even know why Ayanami was protecting her, were they expecting another angel attack? Or was Shinji right about her baby, was it really too good to be true?

'_I hate this world…'_

**Asuka's Residence – 2000 hours**

Asuka looked at herself in the mirror, her own gaunt expression staring back at her. Underneath her rain soaked shirt she could make out the scarring from where she had been stabbed exactly thirty days ago. By the man that had caused her to lose the one thing she really had in this world.

She looked around her bedroom. It was still incomplete after what had happened. Some of the furniture had been put up by Kaji but the rest was in boxes downstairs. She still kept on expecting Shinji to phone her or to go into NERV the next day and find him there. That's why she wouldn't let Kaji put it all together, Shinji had promised her that he would and she wanted to ensure he kept that promise.

It still hadn't hit her fully, the realization that he wasn't coming back. That whoever had him was not going to let him come back and had most likely killed him, at least those had been the Director's words. As far as NERV and the case were concerned Shinji was killed in the line of duty. They had even gone as far as announcing there would be a memorial service for him in a week or so.

The very thought of it made her sick to her stomach, each and everyone of them, they all knew he wasn't dead yet they accepted it so easily and she hated them for it. How could they just accept it so easily? How could they ignore all the work that she had done and ignore her pleas to attempt to infiltrate the site SEELE had set up? She was getting ignored all because they want to just pretend Shinji had died as a hero.

She was getting ignored because she had failed once again, just like she had every other time. She had promised she would return him and had come up with nothing. She turned from the mirror and slammed her hand against the wall shouting out, "I hate them all."

She hit it again and shouted once more, "I hate Ayanami."

Again, "I hate Katsuragi."

Again, "I hate NERV."

"I hate Shinji."

She hit it again but this time sank to her knees letting out a sob, "I hate…I hate myself…"


	25. Objects In The Rear View Mirror

A chill ran through her as she felt the coldness of the floor tiles beneath her bare feet. As she walked down the long corridor, the heavy smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, it was a smell that made her sick to her stomach. It was a smell that was very familiar to her, one that brought back a thousand memories. Asuka shivered and continued making her way down the corridor.

She couldn't remember how long she had been walking for, it seemed like it had been forever, yet the corridor didn't seem to have an end. It just stretched on and on eventually plunging into darkness. She carried on walking, curiosity urging her to continue. She didn't take any notice of the doors on either side, only noticing that each one was identical and had some sort of indistinguishable writing next to them. It didn't matter though, all she wanted to know was what was at the end, just wanting to know where the corridor led to.

She was vaguely aware of a faint beeping noise in the distance, like the sound of an EKG Machine. As she continued moving the sound grew louder and louder. This must be it, she thought to herself. She must be reaching her destination now, she must be close to whatever it was she was trying to find.

Finally she could see something coming into view. As she got closer she noticed the machine noise had changed, it was no longer the steady beep but now the dull thud of what seemed to be a heart beat. The object came more and more distinguishable and she saw that it was a young girl in a yellow sundress. She had long flowing red hair and was clutching a small teddy bear.

Asuka felt a strange sense of dread as she approached the small girl, she couldn't have been much older than eight. What was she doing alone in a place like this? She knelt down beside her, "Excuse me, what are you doing here. A little girl like you shouldn't be alone in a place like this."

The girl replied back forcefully, "I'm not a little girl, my mama told me so. I'm here to visit her but she won't talk to me."

The little girl's mother, is that why Asuka was walking down here? Was that it? She couldn't remember why she was here or even how she had gotten here. That must have been it though, she was investigating something and it led her here. She smiled at the child and spoke again, "Could you please show me where your mama is, I'd like to see her."

"Are you Asuka?"

Asuka felt a sharp pang in her stomach, almost like it was alerting her to leave, but she didn't. She ignored it and nodded, "Yes that's right. How did you know?"

"The doctors said mama was asking for you, are you here to make her better again?"

Asuka nodded smiling, "Yes, yes I am."

The girl smiled and nodded and began to run down the corridor, Asuka called for her to wait up but it was to no avail. She stood up and followed her down the corridor, she stopped just as she got to the end but the little girl had vanished. Asuka heard a door closing but couldn't see any that had closed. She examined the writing next to each one, most of it just seemed to be gibberish except for one name plate. There was a patients name on this, Asuka wiped away the dirt on it and read the name out in her mind.

"_K. Zeppelin. Sohryu"_

Asuka stepped back, her eyes wide with shock. She told herself it wasn't possible, that it was just a sick joke or something. She stepped back, feeling nauseous and trying to catch her breath. Just as she turned she found herself face to face with the little girl again, the girl spoke.

"What are you waiting for? Mama is waiting for you."

"I…I…what is this?" Asuka stammered out.

The girl didn't reply, instead she ran past Asuka into the room. Asuka stood and faced the door way. It was dark inside and she couldn't see the girl or anything else in there. She took a deep breath and stepped inside only to find nothing there. The door closed behind her leaving her in total darkness.

A woman's voice echoed around the room, "That's the one, she's the one who stands there and laughs at you, Asuka…"

Asuka walked forward and whispered, "Mama?"

The voice echoed around the room again, "There she is, it's her fault, she's to blame for this, Asuka."

Asuka screamed out "No, please don't say this…not again."

"It's her fault we're like this."

"No, it's not my fault, please I just didn't want you to leave me."

"Die with me."

Those three words echoed around the room repeatedly, each time though it got louder almost as if they were being repeated. Asuka put her hands over her ears but could still hear them.

"No, please I don't want this."

"Please, die with me Asuka…we can be together again."

"No…I won't I don't want to die…"

Asuka looked up and there was a faint light shining, she could she a figure hanging from a rope. She shut her eyes tightly and screamed out, "No, I don't want this, stop this now!"

_30__th__ September 2015_

**Asuka's Residence – 0415 hours**

Asuka's eyes shot open as she lurched forward in her bed, her body covered in a cold sweat. She felt a nauseous feeling rising through her as she quickly dashed into the bathroom, just making it in time to throw up the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. She wiped her mouth, flushed the contents away and moved over to the sink to wash her face.

Her face was pale and gaunt, this had been the fifth night in a row she had had the same nightmare. Each night it had been identical, it was beginning to haunt her. She had lost so much sleep over it, she was sure she was beginning to go insane.

"Stupid Shinji, if he was here it wouldn't…"

She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she thought of Shinji, this moment had been the same each of the past five nights as well. She wanted him to be there so much, to hold her, to comfort her but it was impossible. He was gone and she was alone. What was the old saying she had once heard? 'Live Together, Die Alone?'

It seemed pretty apt now. They had both lived together, albeit not for a long time, and with the way things were going she was going to die alone. If it wasn't from an Angel, Asuka felt she was going to suffer the same fate as her mother. She shuddered with the thought of it.

'_No…I'm not going to do that, I'm not that bad, I just need to focus. Focus on this other stuff. Shinji will return I know it, he always does, I don't need him down here. I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu for crying out loud, I can't let this affect me. So I had a nightmare about my mother, I'm under pressure its normal I just need to block it out. That's what I've done all my life, blocked it out. To let it show, that's weakness, I can't be weak that's not who I am. I have a duty to do, I must beat the Angels, I must protect Misato.'_

**NERV Offices – 1145 hours**

Asuka sat, a look of fierce determination on her face. She was not going to be beaten this time. She had made her mind up. It was a new dawning for her, a time for change. She had let her guard down. Allowed people inside those walls and she had learnt from her mistake, she wasn't going to allow it to happen again. This time she was going to be tougher and firmer.

Of course, this wasn't exactly going to plan. Being tougher and firmer wasn't exactly an easy job when dealing with Misato Katsuragi. She looked across at Rei who had, so far, stayed out of the entire confrontation.

"Look Misato, I know what you're thinking but I know what I'm doing. I will be fine."

"You can't just go in there Asuka, its suicide. I want Shinji back just as much as you do but-"

Asuka quickly cut her off, "I'm not doing this to get Shinji back Misato, I'm doing this to find out what they're hiding from us. I'm sick of being made a fool of by SEELE and if I can uncover or find something there it will aid me in taking them down."

"What do you mean 'you taking them down'? You can't be thinking of taking on SEELE by yourself."

"Why wouldn't I Misato? Look around you. I can't get you involved because of your pregnancy. Ayanami, no offence, but this isn't your battle and besides which you're the only one of us left if something does happen to me."

Rei looked over curiously. She had stayed out of the argument between Asuka and Katsuragi so far, thinking it much better to just get on with her work or to at least pretend to. "What do you mean by I'm the only one left?"

"Are you stupid or something? You'll be the only one with the Evangelion serum inside you left if something happens. You can't come because if we're both captured then there will be no one left to stop the Angels or SEELE."

As soon as the words left her mouth she realized she might have been a bit harsh on Ayanami, but she knew it was for the best. She didn't want to get Katsuragi or Ayanami involved now. This was her battle and no one else's. It was about her, Asuka Langley Sohryu, trying to prove herself.

Misato sighed, realizing she wasn't going to talk Asuka out of it, "Fine then, but on one condition. I'm coming with you…"

Asuka opened her mouth to retort but was cut off almost immediately, "…I'm still your immediate superior in NERV, don't you forget that. You might not want to go there to find Shinji but I do. I'm not a part of the Evangelion Project either so you can't use that excuse."

Asuka glared at her superior, she knew she had lost this round but still wasn't ready to give up, "Fine but you're not breaking into the complex with me, you're staying out in the car connected to me by a headset. I'm not risking your baby for this, this is something I want to do."

"That's fine with me, there is another condition though."

"What is this condition?"

"Seeing as Ayanami is meant to be protecting me I want her nearby, just in case something does go wrong."

"What? I already said abo-" Asuka exclaimed but was interrupted almost immediately.

"She won't be joining you on infiltrating the base, but I want her nearby. If anything does happen to you she can probably get you out quickly. Do you understand?"

Asuka sighed, trying very hard not to lose her temper. Hadn't she just told them both why she wanted to do this alone? Shouldn't that have been enough? She replied back, "I don't have a choice, do I?"

Misato grinned and nodded, "You're learning pretty quickly how I do things around here."

**SEELE Crash Site – 1230 hours**

Asuka slowed the car down and looked around the area. She could have sworn this was the same place. In fact, she was certain it was the same area. Even if it wasn't, she should have been able to see something. She brought the car to a halt and clutched the steering wheel tightly. She whispered to herself, "Damn it, beaten again, this isn't fair…"

Misato looked around curiously, unsure of why Asuka had stopped the car. She was under the impression that there would be something here. All she could see was an empty area. No traces of anything anywhere. She turned to Asuka and questioned her, "Asuka why have we stopped here? I thought we were going to..."

Asuka replied, her voice raised, "This is it, this is where it was but it's gone. "

"Gone? What do you mean gone? Maybe you made a mistake."

Asuka quickly snapped back. "I didn't make a mistake Katsuragi, this is it! This is where it was, this was done on purpose. They're fucking with us, they wanted us to find it and then come back when it was gone."

Misato reached out a hand to try to console Asuka, but Asuka merely swiped it away and faced towards the window. She could see Asuka shaking slightly with anger, she sat silent for a moment not really sure what to say to her. She never really thought about just how hard this must be for Asuka, everything was falling apart for her. First Shinji had gone, she had nearly been killed, then the incident with Marduk and now this.

"Asuka look, this isn't your fault. We know how SEELE operates, we should have expected this. They've always been one step ahead, but we'll catch them."

Asuka quickly wiped her eyes, just to ensure Misato wouldn't see the tears that had formed. So much for what she had told herself this morning, so much for going back to not showing emotion. She thought about what Misato had said though, it did make sense, she shouldn't get worked up over it. When she and Ayanami were there previously, they were probably spotted, so SEELE would have wanted to complete whatever it wanted to do pretty quickly and move on before they came back. It was just unfortunate timing, that was all.

Asuka smiled and turned around from looking through the window to face Misato again, "You're right, they were probably expecting us to return and have probably moved on. We should have known they would do this. We were just a little slow that's all."

Misato nodded, "Right, so what's our next move?"

Asuka thought about it for a moment and then the idea hit her. She replied back, uttering only one word, "Marduk."

Misato looked around taking a while to respond, she was slightly confused as to just what Asuka meant, "Marduk? I thought that case had been closed and was a mistake. I didn't think we would be investigating it further."

"No, that was only because I hadn't made the connection yet. During the press conference where Nagisa miraculously reappeared, Kaji was there with me. He informed me that SEELE was funding Marduk. The two companies are connected somehow and I believe that we'll find something if we investigate them."

"You're talking about taking on a huge global organization here, Asuka."

Asuka smiled arrogantly, "I know, but if we're going to save the world we need to take big risks. That's why you won't be accompanying me on the field when I investigate. I want you to stay at NERV."

"Asuka, I-"

Asuka quickly cut her off, "Before you start, I know you don't want me doing this alone. Don't worry I'm not that stupid." Asuka picked up the radio receiver in the car, "Wondergirl, you still there?"

There was no response from the other side. Asuka pressed the radio receiver again, "Ayanami that means you, are you still there?"

"_Yes."_

"Good. Listen, how do you feel about investigating Marduk? What can you tell me about them?"

"_Aside from what you already know not much else. I was aware that Keel was involved with them some how but it was unimportant to Director Ikari."_

"Okay, we will gather up what we know for now and then plan our move from there."

"_Okay, there is one thing Sohryu…"_

"Go ahead."

"_This area is unsafe. Someone is nearby, but I do not know where. We should leave now."_

Asuka looked around the area. She couldn't see anyone either, but she too got the sense that she was being watched. She began to move the car when she felt immense pain in her head, almost as if it was being torn open. She screamed out and brought her hand up to her head. Misato acted quickly, withdrawing her gun and also looking around. She couldn't see anyone so she turned her attention to Asuka, who seemed to be a bit better but had gone slightly pale.

"Asuka, are you alright?"

Asuka nodded, "Yeah…I'm fine just…I haven't been getting much sleep so I've been getting headaches. It's nothing."

_3__rd__ October 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1400 hours**

Asuka looked down at the stack of paper in front of her and groaned. Although she supposed she only had herself to blame for it. After all, she had been the one to suggest they take the full brunt of the investigation into Marduk. The reports came from a variety of sources that both she and Katsuragi had been able to collect over the past few nights.

This of course meant that Asuka had once again missed out on another few nights of sleep. Although sleeping wasn't exactly something she wanted to do right now. She had, however, been able to sneak a quick nap in Katsuragi's office while both Misato and Ayanami were there. Luckily there had been no nightmares. She didn't want to admit it, but the knowledge that both Katsuragi and Ayanami were near was probably to thank for that.

She only wished it would have lasted a bit longer, but she was awoken by the force of Misato hitting her with several folders she had collected from Kaji and his investigation into Marduk. Ayanami hadn't found anything yet, but that was because Asuka had asked her to deal with Director Ikari and find out what she could from him. Asuka smiled slightly when she thought of the trouble Ayanami must be having right now. Although she didn't know Director Ikari that well, from the way he treat Shinji and the way he acted before she assumed he probably wasn't an easy person to deal with.

'_Okay, so maybe it was a bit immature, but it's a slight bit of revenge for what we've been through. Besides, if anyone can deal with that guy it's probably her.'_

Asuka was actually surprised Ikari hadn't immediately halted the investigation. She would have continued it regardless, but if Ikari didn't want them to investigate and find his own son she didn't think there would have been a chance in hell of letting them investigate a big company like this.

Asuka looked at the various files on the desk and moved to one side, the ones donated by Kaji. That was another surprise to her, that Kaji was willing to hand over the information like he had. Of course she knew he was a good person, he being her guardian all those years ago proved that, but she knew he was a person who liked to keep his secrets close to himself. Maybe he was just as desperate as the rest of them were to stop SEELE.

'_Of course this probably isn't everything he had on them, but it's still something.'_

She turned her attention to the other files she had found, mostly reports from various sites on the Internet and previous un-investigated cases. There was a whole collection of theories on Marduk itself, some of them downright idiotic and bizarre whilst some actually made sense. Asuka wondered if some of the people who wrote them perhaps knew more than they let on.

'_Head of Marduk is actually an alien appointed to run the organization to prepare for an invasion by an Alien Empire. This alien is not alone however, there are many more appointed throughout the worlds governments and have key positions of power in the U.N. and in organizations throughout the world. Most of the world's key technological advances have been in part thanks to acquired alien technology. _

_The aliens will attack by sending alien slaves through inter-dimensional gateways to weaken the human population. These gateways will be opened once a teleportation experiment, which has been rigged to fail, begins. First we will be flooded by the Alien Wildlife weakening off most of the complex housing the experiment then they will send in the Alien Slaves._

_They will then appear in force and take over Earth. This process has been planned to take only a matter of hours. When they appear the U.N. will simply hand over Earth….'_

Asuka smiled as she read the theory, wondering if the guy who wrote it had ever considered becoming a writer for video games or movies. She was almost believing it right up until it mentioned teleportation experiments. She already knew that was not how it would happen. It would be brute force from these invaders.

She prepared to move to the next theory when, much to her annoyance, the phone in the office began to ring. She sighed and picked it up. However, before she got a chance to speak the person on the other end came though. The person seemed to be using some sort of voice distortion. _"Agent Sohryu?"_

"Who is this?"

"_A friend. You want to find Shinji Ikari, correct?"_

"How do you know about that?"

"_I'm the one asking questions here, yes or no?"_

"Yes, who are you?"

"_Meet me at the Marduk Institute headquarters at twenty three hundred hours four days from now. Understand?"_

"Wait how do you...?"

Asuka cursed as the phone line went dead. She looked down at the number she had written while the person was on the phone. Whoever that person was, they didn't seem to go to great lengths to hide their identity. Using this, she could trace the owner and user of that phone. There was of course the problem of finding someone to do that task. There was no one within NERV she could really trust with it.

She thought for a moment and smiled when she thought of the one person who might be able to help her.

**Kensuke's Residence – 1730 hours**

Asuka pulled up outside the apartment block. It had been quite some time since she was last here. Probably around the time of Touji's death. Just looking at the apartment block sent a chill down her spine. Slowly, she got out of the car and headed towards the door. There was a brief moment of hesitation before she knocked, but she decided to get it over and done with. She knocked on the door and waited a moment. After receiving no response she knocked again only to hear someone behind her.

"Agent Sohryu?"

She turned and found Kensuke stepping out of a car and heading towards the door. He stepped up and unlocked the door.

"What are you doing here? It's unsafe."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't explain here, get inside."

He opened the door and stepped in, she quickly followed him. His appearance surprised her somewhat. He was wearing a full suit and looked much less like the stereotypical geek he did a few months ago, but now slightly more like a normal person. She turned to face him, a surprised look on her face. He smiled slightly.

"I know what you're thinking. This is why it's unsafe around here, shortly after Touji's accident..."

He paused for a moment. The subject of the accident was still a tough one for him. It was for anyone.

"Shortly after the incident a person from the Marduk Institute approached me. They offered me a job there. At first I was hesitant, but then I heard a bit more about it. They wanted me to work on the network administration and security systems in there, something I'm a bit of an expert at and besides, the pay was really good."

"So you took the job?"

"Correct. At first I didn't really think about it, and then I saw you and Shinji on the security cameras one day. I knew it wasn't a day trip, so I did a bit of digging and found out the reasons why you were there. Nagisa, the head of Marduk had gone missing."

"Except for the fact that…"

"He wasn't really missing, I saw the press conference and I saw them denying NERV ever being there. So I did a bit more digging. I found a few interesting things around there, bugs and cameras. Whoever installed them is a bit of an amateur, but the technology goes back to the Marduk Institute. "

Asuka looked on, surprised she hadn't expected this when she arrived. But now the whole Marduk mystery was widening up. She didn't say anything but allowed Kensuke to continue.

"So I thought of something, whoever hired me knew about Touji and they knew about you and Shinji. They were expecting you to come here and that's why they bugged the area, what I don't understand is why."

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"So you are here about Marduk."

"Sort of, is this room bugged?"

"Don't worry, I was able to knock all of them out. Like I said, whoever set them up was an amateur. They had an awful range and were barely even able to pick up anything anyway."

"Okay, so we're safe now."

He nodded, "Right, now we are."

"Okay, good. We were able to link SEELE to Marduk, so we're trying to find out what we can on Marduk. We think the reason they had us investigate Nagisa's disappearance was simply to get a hold of Shinji."

"Makes sense."

"So earlier today I was sitting in my office, when I get a phone call from someone. This person was, as you would say an 'amateur', they didn't even hide their phone number. I can't really trust anyone inside NERV right now and I need a trace ran on the number."

"I can handle that, what exactly is it you need?"

"The owner and where they called from."

Kensuke nodded and took the sheet of paper Asuka was holding from her. He quickly made his way over to his computer and began the process. A few minutes later he turned around to Asuka and spoke again.

"This might take a while, that alright with you?"

Asuka nodded and waited for him to continue. He turned back around to the computer and entered the number she had given him. It was a quick and easy process, or at least that's what it seemed like. Within a matter of seconds he was reporting the details.

"Right, that took a shorter time than I thought. Unfortunately, there is a problem."

Asuka sighed, there was always a problem these days it seemed, "Go ahead."

"Well I was able to get the location, but not the owner. Whoever it is probably knew we'd try this so already took steps to prevent it."

"Okay, so what was the location?"

Kensuke replied almost immediately, "It was from within NERV. Whoever was using that cell phone was calling you from the NERV Headquarters. Could have been another agent."

Asuka smiled, it was just as she expected, this was exactly why she couldn't get this done inside NERV. "Right, that's all I needed to know, thank you Kensuke."

He nodded, "Not a problem, I won't pry into the details because I know you're not going to tell me but whatever it is you're doing, be careful."

"You don't need to worry about me."

Kensuke nodded and watched as she turned and exited the apartment. Almost immediately after she closed the door his own cell phone began to ring. He answered and spoke into it.

"Yes, she just left. As expected there were no problems."

He paused to allow the other person time to speak.

"She doesn't suspect a thing, all she knows is where the phone call was made. She trusts us anyway."

He paused again before questioning the other person.

"You ensure this will help her and Shinji though?"

"_..."_

"Good."

_7__th__ October 2015_

**Marduk Institute – 2300 hours**

Asuka stepped out into the darkened alleyway. This had to have been the place the person who contacted her meant. It was right next to the main building, yet just hidden well enough to not be spotted. She leaned against the wall and brushed her hair back. She looked around towards the front of the building and squinted slightly, trying to see if anyone was approaching. The pounding rain running down her face and down the street obscured her vision somewhat.

She silently wished that whoever had contacted her would hurry up and make their presence known now. She didn't anticipate the weather being this bad and if they were indeed going to be infiltrating Marduk she didn't need to be dragged down by her clothes being soaked through.

She took another quick look round and just as she finished, her cell phone began to vibrate quietly in her pocket. She cursed silently and took it out, looking at the caller I.D. Much to her surprise it was the same number that had contacted her. She pressed to answer it and spoke quietly into the phone.

"Okay, I'm here. What now?"

"_At the end of the street there is a parked limousine with the engine and lights turned off. The doors, however, are open. Walk to the end of the street and get into it."_

Almost immediately after the voice finished speaking the phone line went dead. Asuka stepped out of the alleyway, conscious that what she was about to do could be the biggest mistake she had ever made in her life. She kept on telling herself that it was a stupid idea, that even she shouldn't be taking a risk like this. For all she knew, someone from SEELE could be here, ready for her. She could be walking into a huge trap, yet something pushed her on. A subconscious desire to find out the truth, to get some pride back and to get back that which was dear to her.

She turned back onto the street and pulled her jacket hood up again to try to shield her from the rain. She got to the end of the street, there it was just like the person had said, a parked black limousine. Nothing too unusual for this end of the city. Limousines were often spotted going back and forth due to it being the major business sector. This was where those who had money, power or both in Tokyo 3 came. A fitting area for one of the world's biggest organizations.

As she approached the limousine, the door opened slightly. She paused, expecting someone to step out. When no one did she cautiously approached it. As she stopped to look inside she heard the same voice she had heard on the phone just minutes ago.

"Agent Sohryu, get inside quickly. Our time is limited."

She removed her hood and got inside the darkened limousine, closing the door behind her. She was only in darkness for a matter of moments before the main light came on and she found herself sitting only a meter or two away from Gendo Ikari. She looked on, trying to hide her shock and anger at the man. Sitting next to him was Ayanami, she was wearing a dark black bodysuit and had a bag next to her.

"What...What is this?"

Gendo smiled arrogantly and answered her question, "This is where it all begins to end Sohryu. I must apologize for leading you on like this, I would have preferred to call you into my office in NERV and explain this there. However, SEELE has now infiltrated NERV and have appointed several agents. Luckily, we were able to send in someone of our own. Someone they would never suspect..."

Asuka didn't care what the man had to say, right now her previous thought that this was a mistake had just been confirmed in her head. All she wanted to do now was go home, get changed and go to bed. "Why have you called me here?"

"As you might have already found out, I am not working with SEELE. In fact, much the contrary, I want to stop them from completing their scenario. I was able to construct my own plan to achieve this, as you might have guessed it involved using you, Shinji and Rei as the recipients of the Evangelion Serum. However, due to unforeseen circumstances I have had to alter that."

"So what, now that we know who you are you're just going to ask us instead of manipulating us, is that it?"

"In a sense. A few days ago Rei came to me asking about Marduk and SEELE's relationship. She told me that you were investigating them because of recent events and because of information passed down by Ryoji Kaji."

Asuka nodded, "That is correct."

"We received more information from Kaji yesterday that Marduk's miracle vaccine may not be as it seems. I want you and Rei to get into the facility. I have provided appropriate weaponry and equipment to get you inside. There are laboratories on the lower levels, I want you to gather what you can from them."

Asuka didn't know what to think, was Gendo being serious, was he really going to aid them or was this just another false truth? "Why do you want us to do this, why the sudden rush?"

"SEELE is getting desperate. They are trying to advance their schedule and bring a colonization ship here earlier than expected, regardless of whether or not the Angels are defeated. I also believe that the key to finding my son is within those labs."

Asuka looked him in the eyes, still unsure of if he was being serious with this. It all seemed so sudden, this person who had stayed hidden all that time. Had only operated in secrecy was now willing to help her infiltrate this organization. There had to be something more, another motive perhaps, it just seemed a bit too sudden.

"What about SEELE, they aren't exactly going to let us in through the front door?"

"I know, that's why I had Kaji 'borrow' a little something of theirs. Rei, hand her one of the weapons."

Rei nodded and reached into the large bag, pulling out a small handgun not too dissimilar to the standard issue NERV Handgun. She handed it to Asuka who looked at it with a look of confusion on her face. "It's a handgun? This is it?"

Gendo nodded, "Correct, it's a handgun. However, they are loaded with special issue ammo. A protective measure for SEELE, something that they and Marduk have been developing for some time. The ammunition for those guns has been developed from an alien alloy found some time ago. It is the same alien alloy that flowed through Agent Carter's veins. It has been created from what was thought to be a weapon. Keel named the 'weapon' the Lance of Longinus. This is due to its so called 'divine' property to pass directly through any A.T. Field of any strength."

Asuka smiled slightly, this should definitely even the playing field then. "Okay, so all you want us to do is get into the facility, find what we can in the labs and get out of there. Sounds easy enough."

Gendo nodded, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Sohryu. SEELE and Keel are clever, they will be expecting it. That's why I had Shinji's friend Kensuke assigned to a job there. He's been watching over certain sections and reporting back to me. He is also responsible for the block wide power outage that will occur in five minutes."

**Laboratories – 2330 hours**

Ayanami and Asuka continued down the corridor, moving as slowly and quietly as they could. In the distance Asuka could make out the faint red emergency lights guiding them towards their destination. So far so good she thought to herself, but it was a bit too easy. Hadn't Director Ikari told them that SEELE would be expecting something like this? Why wasn't anyone trying to stop them? Or were they all preoccupied with the power outage and searching different areas?

Nonetheless they had to press on. They were so close now, she was so close to redeeming herself. To proving that she didn't need anyone's help, to regaining some of that lost pride and to regain Shinji. They edged closer now, it was only a matter of meters away, her heart rate began to speed up as she reached out for the door handle. They both paused before opening the door, trying to listen for anything. Asuka turned to Ayanami, "You hear anything?"

Rei shook her head, "Nothing, its safe."

"Good, let's go then."

She opened the door and stepped through into the laboratory. The laboratory was slightly better lit due to the higher number of emergency lights, although it was also much larger than Asuka had anticipated. In the dark red glow she could make out various chambers lined up, all of then cylindrical and placed next to each other, set out almost like supermarket aisles. At the far end she could make out a small circular file rack and what appeared to be a hospital operating table.

Beside her, she spotted Rei looking in one of the tanks curiously. She walked up near her, taking a look for herself. She almost dropped her gun in shock. Inside the tank was a fully grown human being, or at least that was what it looked like. A girl around seventeen years of age, her eyes shut and long hair flowing in the LCL. Asuka turned to Ayanami, barely able to say anything.

"What...What is this?"

"A cloning room, these are empty vessels waiting for a soul to take charge of them."

Asuka looked on in horror, "Clones? You mean SEELE is cloning people?"

"Yes."

Rei said it so bluntly, almost as if the idea didn't even faze her. In fact, the way she was looking at the tank, it was almost as if she felt sorry for the person inside or had some sort of connection to that person. Asuka shrugged the thought away, it was just her mind playing tricks on her. It was a huge shock seeing this, it would faze anyone, Ayanami just wasn't letting it show.

They moved up the aisle of tanks, Asuka glancing in each one as they passed. The people inside varied in age from baby all the way up to early twenties, both male and female. It was like SEELE was just growing humans. The idea of it made Asuka sick to her stomach. These weren't people, they were just dolls that had a mind. It was worse than the colonization to her.

What surprised her the most though was how Ayanami seemed to be so unfazed by the whole thing. As if she expected it or had seem it before. Everything here it was beyond anything Asuka had seen, she didn't scare easily but the thought that SEELE and Marduk were doing something like this terrified her. Why wouldn't it have the same effect on Rei, surely this should be just as high a priority as everything else. She continued following her until the end of the section and looked out among the small lab area.

Ayanami stopped up ahead and looked around before moving towards the file rack, she withdrew one of the folders and stuffed it inside her bag. Asuka eyed her curiously questioning what she was doing, "Ayanami aren't they going to notice if we take these?"

"Yes, but we need some sort of proof. Besides, it won't matter much, this is not a high priority section for them."

Asuka nodded and looked at the rack herself. With a morbid curiosity she began looking at the names on it and then one of them caught her eye. She reached towards the folder, her eyes wide with shock. Sure enough her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, the folder, the scans, the reports, each one of them named, and dated.

_'Kasturagi, Misato'_

She reached to put the folder in her jacket when she looked up. Ayanami seemed focused on something at the other end of the room. Asuka looked around quickly. Had it been a set up, no that can't be it why would she have been set up like this, what would it achieve?

Ayanami whispered, "This was a trap, they were expecting us."

Those were the last words Asuka heard before collapsing to the floor.

**Unknown Location**

When she awoke she found herself lying in a different area. She slowly opened her eyes, to find the hot sun beating down upon her. How long had she been out for? Where had she been taken and why? The last thing she remembered was discovering Misato's file in that lab and then being knocked out by something. More to the point where was Ayanami? Had she been captured as well?

She looked around the immediate area. She was in some sort of coastal area, she was outside but she herself was locked in a large cage like some sort of animal. Asuka tried to stand but was brought back to the floor again by some sort of chains keeping her held down. In front of her was a huge screen. However, there was nothing on it just yet.

"Agent Asuka Langley Sohryu, it's good to see you're awake."

She looked around for where the voice had come from. She watched as a woman walked into view above her and near the screen. She saw next to her a small building and could vaguely make out the form of someone else at the doorway.

"Welcome to our little facility Asuka. We will overlook your little trespass into our headquarters. First of all let me explain just where you are. We're currently on an island a couple of hundred miles offshore of Japan. This is where we conduct the research on our vaccines."

Asuka felt humiliated, it had been a trap and her and Ayanami had walked straight into it. Why couldn't she have seen it coming? And now, once again she was unable to do anything, all she could do was try to give some sort of vocal resistance, "What do you want from me?"

"That's pretty simple Asuka, you're here because we needed a subject to test a new course of treatment on. First of all, let us learn a bit more about you, it will make the process a lot easier. How old were you when your mother died Asuka?"

Asuka glared at her, wanting to tear the woman apart for asking that. She couldn't do anything though instead she opted to just reply. "I don't know what business it is of yours but I was eight."

"I see. And tell me Asuka, how exactly did your mother die?"

Asuka closed her eyes, the memory of that incident coming back to her. She shouted back at the woman, "Why are you doing this? You already know how, if you're going to kill me go ahead and do it."

"Fine, I was hoping we would be able to make this easier but you leave me no choice. The inject we gave you prior to you waking up should be taking effect now anyway, if you'll turn your attention towards the screen."

Asuka tried to turn away but found herself unable to. Something was compelling her, forcing her to look. The screen suddenly flickered into life, at first it just showed a black screen. Suddenly text from various languages began to scroll by, English, German, Japanese none of it made any sense though. The text, it was just gibberish, though now and then Asuka felt an immense pain shoot through her skull. She looked up at the screen and screamed out loud at what she saw. The images, they were all from her. Each one from her mind. She screamed out.

"No! Get out my head!"

More images flashed by. As the pain intensified, she tried her hardest to turn away but was unable to. The images weren't just on the screen anymore, they were inside her mind. They were in front of her, all around her, tearing her apart.

"No, stop it, stop raping my mind. Please stop."

_October 1996_

**GEHIRN Hospital Wing**

"It's so tragic."

The other nurse shook her head, "I know, she doesn't even recognize her own daughter anymore. The doctors said she's already attempted suicide, I can't imagine the effect it's having on her daughter."

"Her father hasn't even visited either, they say that it was he who shot her and left her like this after some argument."

"It must be so horrible for the daughter, she's only eight years of age. She just comes along and looks at her mother through the window. She doesn't cry or say anything, she just looks in at her mother and that doll."

Asuka ignored the nurses as they walked past her, they didn't know anything. They said her mama was in a bad state, but it wasn't true. Her mother was strong, just like she was. She was fine, everything would be alright, they didn't need anyone. From inside she could hear her mother talking to that doll.

Asuka hated dolls, she had never liked them, and now her mother had chosen one over her. She hated it, she hated the way it had taken her mother from her.

"Look at that girl out there Asuka, she wants to take you away from me. She wants you to die so that I'll have nothing. Your father ran off, he abandoned us. Our work colleagues betrayed us, we only wanted to help."

The words cut through her like a knife, she tried to ignore them but every night they were there. Haunting her when she slept. Her mama didn't even know her anymore.

**GEHIRN Hospital Wing – Three Weeks Later**

Asuka ran up the hospital corridor towards her mother's room. She had done it, she had been chosen to help at GEHIRN. She was going to be a real scientist just like her mother. She got to the door and began shouting excitedly.

"Mama, they want me to help them. They chose me out of all the others, they told me I was special."

Her hand reached out for the door knob as she was still shouting excitedly. The shouting stopped when she entered the room though. It was only met with complete silence, she walked forward whispering, "Mama?"

She looked down and saw a small trickle of red liquid. She looked up and saw her mother hanging from the ceiling of the hospital room. Asuka felt a tear rolling down her cheek as she began to sob.

_7__th__ October 2015_

**Unknown Location**

Asuka was screaming out and sobbing at this point, at the memories of her mother. She didn't care anymore who could hear her. She didn't care that she was crying, that she looked weak.

"Why...why are you doing this, why are you showing me this?"

"It won't be much longer now Asuka, in fact we have a treat for you."

_September 1996_

**GEHIRN Laboratories**

"I don't want any part of this anymore, Ikari. I'll be leaving tomorrow, I'll be taking my daughter to America."

Kyoko turned around from him angrily. He merely stood behind her and watched her move back towards the small computer. He tried once again to persuade her.

"If you leave you'll only make it worse, SEELE won't forgive you. Keel will most likely try to kill both you and your daughter."

"Keels already promised us our freedom, as long as we don't speak of the project we will be safe."

"Do you really believe that? Do you really believe Keel will just let you and your daughter go free after all the effort he put into gaining you both? How can you trust him?"

Kyoko stood up and turned off the computer monitor snapping back at Gendo, "I trust him because if it wasn't for Keel I wouldn't have a daughter right now. She's all I have Gendo, what sort of future does she have with Gehirn? I want her to have a normal life, I can't do this."

"So you're just going to turn around and leave knowing what they're planning here? We can change that, Yui is already attempting to make modifications."

Kyoko moved past him and spoke softly, "Then I wish her the best of luck, but I can't do this. For Asuka's sake, she already doesn't have a father. I don't want her to grow up without a mother as well."

_7__th__ October 2015_

**Unknown Location**

The barrage continued, it was no longer just the images of her mother, or the hanging dolls. Now they were moving rapidly and had moved onto something else. Asuka tried to shut her eyes but she could still see them. Each image flashed before her quickly, each one only a split second but each one stuck out.

_... A hanging doll..._

_Shinji..._

_Her mother..._

_..Touji's death..._

_Her being stabbed by Zereul..._

_Shinji being taken from her..._

"No stop this, please stop it."

The images didn't stop, they continued rolling past.

_...First meeting with Shinji..._

She screamed out again, "Why are you showing me this?"

_...The events on the Over The Rainbow..._

"Please stop this!"

_...Shinji being captured by Leliel..._

Suddenly the images stopped, the woman at the front looked around frantically and looked up smiling.

"Well it looks like your friends found us."

A loud noise tore through the sky as Asuka screamed out. She watched on as the woman projected an A.T. Field to try to deflect the bullet. The woman smiled arrogantly as she shouted back at the attacker. A person in a black helicopter circling nearby.

"How does it feel to know you came all this way for...?"

Her face changed to a look of immense pain and shock as another bullet was fired, this time tearing through her A.T. Field like it was nothing. The woman dropped to the floor as Asuka tried to take a look at the person who had apparently saved her from all this. Before she could see anything else she passed out from the pain.


	26. Withdrawal

_10__th__ October 2015_

**Hospital Room – 1300 hours**

Misato looked down at Asuka's body, every so often it would move and twitch and Asuka would whimper like she was caught in some eternal nightmare. For three days she had been like this, ever since Nagisa and Arael had exposed her to those projections. The nurses had assured Misato that Asuka would awaken, it was just a matter of when.

The scariest moment had been shortly after they brought her back, when Asuka had opened her eyes. They were so lifeless, and it was just as if they had been replaced by black holes. They were no longer looking at the person, but through them. Even then she hadn't been responsive at all, she was awake in name only. Her body functioned, but her mind and soul were cut off from the world.

Misato had spent all the time she could visiting her, just hoping she would wake up. She felt in a way as if she was to blame for what had happened. She had been so wrapped up in what had happened to Shinji she had not noticed or even thought about how badly it had affected Asuka. She knew it had affected her, that much was obvious, but she should have taken into account the other factors surrounding her. Her past, her pride, if Misato had thought about it she would have acted quicker and hopefully been able to prevent this.

She sighed and leaned back in her seat, this couldn't carry on she thought to herself. First Shinji had gone and now Asuka was pretty much comatose for an indefinite amount of time. Everything around them was falling apart, there was a heavy stench of inevitability wherever she went now. That no matter what they did they would be unable to prevent SEELE from carrying out their plans.

_'Is there no hope left? Shinji is gone, Asuka is like this and Rei was badly beaten up in Asuka's rescue attempt. If SEELE attempts anything now they'd have little to no resistance. Was this what they planned to do? Sacrifice the remaining Angels after Leliel to weaken the Evangelions and then take them out one at a time?'_

She stood up and walked towards the window. It had rained non-stop since they had brought her back. A flash of lighting tore through the sky as she watched the rain drops stream down the window. She silently wished she could leave this all behind, to go some place else and forget all about it. Forget about NERV, forget about SEELE, about the Angels or the invasion. Why couldn't it all be over before it caused them any more pain?

_'Even if I do survive, what sort of world is my child going to be born into? SEELE's world where humanity has been reprogrammed into a 'perfect existence' or a desolate wasteland where we only just survived. SEELE won't even let my baby be, they want that as well, are they just going to take everything from us. How is that a perfect existence?_

Behind her Misato heard the door to the room opening. She turned and saw Rei entering the room. Misato smiled and greeted the agent. Ayanami had spent quite a bit of time visiting Asuka as well, something Misato had found rather unusual considering the two agents attitude towards each other, or at least Asuka's attitude towards Rei.

"Hello Rei, sorry to inform you but there's been no change."

Rei looked across at Asuka's still form. The news seemed to sadden her slightly. It showed even more in her voice when she spoke. "I see..."

"They said she could wake up at any time though."

"Then I hope it is soon."

"We all do, I just wish there was some way we could have prevented this from happening."

"Sohryu is a proud person, she closed herself off to other people. There wasn't anything we could have done."

Misato looked over at Rei, slightly confused. She had never expected Rei to say something like that. She wasn't really sure what Rei had even meant by it, was she saying that Asuka brought it on herself? Surely she couldn't have meant that, she must have meant something else.

"So Asuka did this to herself?"

Rei shook her head, "No, Keel did this to her. He took her mother from her, he took Shinji from her and now he took her pride from her."

_22__nd__ October 2015_

**NERV Offices – 1000 hours  
**Rei entered the office and took her jacket off, hanging it up behind the door. Another day she thought to herself, it had been some time since she had visited Sohryu and in that time she had continued working at NERV alone. Asuka had actually woken up later that day, but by the time Rei got to the hospital she had already checked herself out and had gone home.

She hadn't returned to NERV yet, although Rei didn't really expect her to just yet. Asuka would have needed a bit more time. Time to get her guard back in place and prepare to return. Rei hoped that she would return sooner rather than later. She had wanted to return to NERV, requested to return here because of Asuka and Shinji. Because they made her feel like she was more than just a tool.

She cast her mind back to a few weeks ago, to when Keel had confronted her in the park and mentioned her origins and asked her to help him. He had told her she had no purpose, that she was just a doll for Gendo to discard as he wished. Was that true? Was that why she wanted so desperately to see Asuka again, before this she had not cared either way? She had grown a minor attachment to her work colleagues but that was it. Now it was more, they treated her differently than what she was used to.

She sighed and sat down at her desk, powering on the computer. She waited a few moments for it to load up so she could spend yet another day looking at nothing. She didn't have any work to do, there were no cases to investigate for her. There was only SEELE and Marduk and nothing they could do about that for some time. They were lucky to get away last time and they were even luckier that there wasn't a backlash from SEELE.

_'That was what they wanted, they wanted us to attack them so they could capture Sohryu and take me out of it. They didn't take me so that I'd be able to get back there and rescue her after the damage had been done...but why?'_

Rei had been thinking of that since the rescue, even she knew it was too easy that they were in and out like nothing. It couldn't have been luck, did SEELE want that to happen, were they meant to go back?

"Ayanami."

Rei looked around. She had been so lost in her own thoughts she had not noticed the door opening nor had she noticed Agent Sohryu stepping through it.

"Agent Sohryu."

"Well not exactly the major greeting that befits someone like me but I guess it'll do. So what did I miss?"

It was strange, Asuka was actually smiling and seemed to be in a good mood. After all that had happened she actually appeared to be happy, was this just another façade? Asuka had been through so much it just seemed strange that she'd be in such good spirits.

"I did not expect you back today."

"Well I got bored at home and decided that you guys wouldn't get anywhere without me, so I came back in."

Asuka made her way over to her desk and sat down. She had to come back. It wasn't because she was bored, it was before she could feel herself going insane on her own. As much as she had tried to forget about the attack, forget about the mind rape and her mother, she couldn't. Every living moment she was being haunted by it. She sensed that it was only a matter or time before she got even worse and returned to how she was in the hospital, only this time permanently.

She looked across at Rei and suddenly felt a flash of anger tear through her. It was her fault, she let that happen to her. She made her like this. From the very first day she had met Rei she had only had bad things happen to her. First meeting she was injured, when she returned Shinji was abducted and she nearly killed and now recently she had her mind torn from her.

_'I can't think like this, it's not right. Everything is so fucked up right now. She isn't to blame, it was SEELE. I can understand that but I still hate her...I hate her because she's such a doll, she'll do anything blindly without questioning it...if she was told to kill herself she would.'_

"Agent Sohryu, are you feeling all right?"

_'Is she showing concern? No, it's just a load of crap, its guilt because she knows she was to blame...'_

Asuka clutched her head. She knew immediately it was a mistake coming back here. It felt as if her mind had been torn into several pieces. She didn't know what to do or feel any more, but what else could she have done? Stayed at home and suffered through the nightmares and hallucinations or came back in and went through this? She didn't have a choice any more.

_'Why...why am I like this, why is it me that has to suffer like this? I hate this, I wish I could end it.'_

The idea had crossed her mind a few days ago, the idea of ending it. She had been so close, holding the blade in her trembling hands, waiting to make the cut, but she didn't. She wasn't like that, she was stronger than that.

_'Yeah, strong enough that I'm breaking down in front of someone like Ayanami. I need to get out of here for a few moments. I'll be fine if I can just get out the office and clear my head, I probably rushed myself._

She turned to Ayanami and finally responded, "I'm all right, just still got a bit of a headache that's all. I might be suffering from them for some time. I just need something to take my mind off them."

Asuka looked up and screamed out loudly, she knew it wasn't real, that is wasn't there and that she shouldn't be acting like this. She gazed at the hanging doll, her eyes fixed on its lifeless button eyes as it slowly span around. She quickly averted her gaze from the doll and down towards her desk, the hallucinations were following her here as well, there was no escape, no running away from them.

Rei quickly leapt up from her seat and made her way over to Asuka, to check on her colleague. She looked around the room, trying to find what Asuka seemed to be avoiding looking at something in the middle of the room. She appeared to be looking to see if it was there and then averting her eyes. There was nothing there but she could sense something. She heard Asuka whimpering slightly as she gently laid a hand on her back.

Asuka herself leapt up and pushed Rei away from her shouting out, "What are you doing? I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help!"

Rei didn't know how to respond. She just stood there taking the brunt of Asuka's verbal attack, "Why would I want help from someone like you, I hate you, I hate everything here just...leave me alone!"

Asuka turned and dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Rei went to follow but then remembered what Asuka had just told her. Rei stood there looking towards the centre of the room, shivering slightly and also disturbed at what had just happened. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there. For the first time, she was truly scared for what would happen to them.

**  
Meeting Room – 1430 hours**

Gendo sat facing directly ahead, his hands folded neatly in front of him as per usual and his face a stoic unchanging expression. He spoke calmly to the rest of the occupants of the room, "Rei has delivered me some interesting news regarding Agent Sohryu."

"So interesting is how you word it now? You mean how she came in today and left after just over ten minutes in tears?"

Gendo nodded, ignoring Misato's anger, "Correct, I knew there might have been some after effects to what Nagisa and Arael did to her but I wasn't expecting this. I fear I might have made a mistake by ordering them to go into Marduk. SEELE were expecting it and prepared a trap, we fell for it."

"You ordered them to go into Marduk? What the hell were you thinking? Do you think you can just order them about like tools of you-?"

Gendo promptly interrupted her, "Put your personal feelings aside for a moment Katsuragi. May I remind you that I am still the Director of NERV and you all work for NERV. Meaning you are all under my command and not free to act on your own personal agenda. I have been lenient with Sohryu and my son in the past and treat them differently to other Agents under my command."

"By treat them differently you mean use them for your own ends?"

"Everything I have done I have done for the future of humanity, Katsuragi. If ensuring humanity has a future means risking the life of my own son then so be it."

"How can you even say that you bastard? You'd let your own son die just to stop Keel?"

"He would willingly do so anyway."

Kaji quickly acted and grabbed hold of Misato before she was able to leap up off of her seat. She shouted at him, tears in her eyes, "How can you even say such a thing? You didn't even know Shinji, you abandoned him because it was convenient for you. I was the one who took him in and brought him up when he had nothing or no one to turn to."

Fuyutsuki quickly saw how this was going to turn out and made a move to stop the argument. "Agent Katsuragi please settle down for a moment, we can save this dispute for later. As of now we have more important things to worry about. Namely finding Shinji and also preventing further damage to Agent Sohryu."

Misato sat back down, breathing heavily, "Okay fine, what is this news you received from Ayanami?"

"It is regarding the incident earlier today. At first I dismissed the incident as a hallucination relating to what had happened back at the Island Facility but Rei told me that she could feel something there. That whatever Sohryu saw was real, only she herself could not see it."

Kaji offered his own insight into what had happened, "Asuka came to me shortly after she fled from the office. I've never seen her like that before, she was crying and just repeating the same things over and over again. That she didn't want to die and that she hated everything."

It was true, he had seen Asuka at a vulnerable point before in the past but he had never seen her this bad before. He was truly concerned that if they didn't help her quickly that she would only get worse.

Gendo nodded and replied. This time, however, there was a distinct hint of sadness to his voice, "She is suffering from the same thing her mother did."

Misato looked across at him, Gendo knew about Asuka's mother? She had heard from Kaji what had happened but was that related to this as well?

"What happened?"

Gendo shook his head, "I am doing everything I can. I have a small team researching her mother's case, but it is out of my hands. As for what happened to Asuka's mother, the details of that are unknown even to me. All I know is it was the day before she was due to leave GEHIRN, there was an incident in the labs and a few weeks later she committed suicide in her hospital room after suffering hallucinations."

"I see, and you think the same thing is happening to Asuka?"

Fuyutsuki turned and looked out the meeting room window, voicing his opinion, "It's all fitting into place, they took Shinji out of the equation and then with only two Angels left they're going to take Asuka out of the equation. With only one Evangelion left we cannot defend ourselves. We will be an easy target for them."

Gendo nodded, "Correct, we can no longer stage our initial attack on them. However, the fact that we still have the Adam DNA should be of concern to them. We also have what we learnt about the Island Facility thanks to Sohryu."

"Thanks to her getting captured you mean?"

"Her capture aided us significantly. We now know the layout of the island and location of the facility."

Misato slammed her fist on the table, "So is that worth ruining her life?"

Gendo smiled from behind his folded hands, "It was a sacrifice that was necessary, besides her life is not yet over."

_24__th__ October 2015_

**Marduk Island Facility – Unknown Time**

Nagisa looked out across the facility and smiled. It would soon be time, he thought to himself. His reason for being born into this world would soon come to pass and then everything would change. It had been fifteen years since the impact, fifteen long years since the night he was brought into this form and fifteen years of waiting until this moment.

His only regret was that he would not be around to see what all his work had accomplished. But then, that was a sacrifice that had to be made. Just like all the sacrifices that his brothers and sisters had made it was something that was necessary. He was just there to play a part, just as everyone else involved was there to do.

_'Soon I shall have to return to the craft and then it shall be up to Shinji to make his decision.'_

Another person entered the room, a female appearing to be around the same age as Nagisa. She shared the same silver hair. However, her hair flowed down to her shoulders. She looked out the window, her red eyes scanning the area. Watching the people moving back and forth.

"We have made all the proper preparations for your departure. They will be expecting you soon. How shall we handle the media during your absence this time?"

"I have left a pre-recorded message to be sent out to the major news outlets. Wait a week after my departure and then send it out. It is informing them that a private test of the vaccine has occurred and thus far the results are positive. They won't ask any questions after that."

"And what of Sohryu?"

"Phase One appears to have been a success, the implant we attached to her seems to be working and sending back the appropriate data. Initiate Phase Two soon, I will observe the results from my station."

"Are you not worried that will compromise your position with Ikari?"

Nagisa smiled when she mentioned Shinji's name, "Shinji will soon have to make a choice. Everything he has done up to this point will hinge on this one choice, everything we have worked for up to this point will also hinge on it. He is the only one who can do what needs to be done. If he makes the right choice then all we have worked for will be able to go ahead."

"If he makes the wrong choice?"

"Then we all lose, I will have to make contact and it will be over."

"I do not understand you Nagisa, it's almost like you've turned this into a game. Do not lose sight of what our purpose was, we are loyal to SEELE."

"Of course. I understand that, but the future they have chosen for humanity may not be the correct one. The fate of humanity does not lie in our or SEELE's hands, it lies in the person sitting up there waiting for the person he trusts to return."

_25__th__ October 2015_

She was alone, alone and cold as she sat up from the cold bed. She felt disorientated as she slowly got to her feet. This room she was in, where was it? It looked like a hospital operating theatre but there was a horrible sense of dread within her as she examined the room a bit more. The operating table in the middle was essentially nothing more than a cold steel slab. Next to it was a tray of various needles and instruments. A cold mist rose from the tray.

Next to the table there were what appeared to be straps to restrain the occupant. She shuddered as she ran her hand over the cold leather. Above her seemed to be another restraining device. This time it appeared to be for keeping the head in place. She ran her hand across the table again, wondering the true purpose of the table, the restraints, the tools and the stench of blood. Experimentation, was that it? Was this where they took people? Had Shinji been in a place like this?

She heard a scream from outside the room and froze on the spot. That scream, the sound of that voice, it was so familiar. It couldn't have been though, he was gone. He couldn't have been here yet she had just heard him and he was in trouble. She reached into her jacket pocket, searching for her pistol and finding it with ease.

_'Not as intelligent as they seem, leaving me with this. I'll teach them to capture me and stick me in a place like this.'_

She withdrew the pistol and smiled, edging towards the door. She looked out into the alien corridor, in the distance she could see two figures moving upwards.

_'Okay so I'm on one of the lower decks. This thing must be intact and moving though, so I need to find Shinji and then get this thing back. Maybe we can 'persuade' one of those things to take it back.'_

She moved out into the deck and continued along slowly, being careful not to make any noise, then stopped as she came to an opening into another room and looked inside. It was a small room, probably only a couple of metres square. There were basic human amenities in there, leading Asuka to believe it was some kind of holding cell.

She must be close then. If the holding cells were here then that meant Shinji could be here as well. But she had heard him screaming out. She had to be quick, especially if he was in danger. She moved out of the cell into the main corridor again and continued moving along it. The stench of LCL hit her nostrils as she willed herself not to throw up. She looked around at the pipes leading across various areas of the deck. An orange mist had formed around the pipes and she could see small droplets of LCL dripping down the walls and from the pipes.

_'I must be close now, I can almost sense him.'_

She got to the end of the corridor and was left with two choices, she could either go up like she saw those two figures doing or move to the right. She could see more holding cells there. Maybe he was in one of those.

She moved towards the second set of holding cells and began moving slowly. She felt her heart began to pound as the fear finally started to take hold of her. She stopped as she reached one of the open holding cells. Outside she could see a faint trail of blood leading into the cell, she turned her head and screamed out.

_'No...no, this can't be real...'_

**Asuka's Residence – 0345 hours**

Her eyes shot open as she willed herself not to scream out. It was alright now, it was just another nightmare, and it wasn't real. She wiped her eyes and looked across at the small clock under her TV and sighed.It had felt so real to her, she could still feel the cold air and was sure she could see the LCL dripping down her own walls. But it wasn't, it had just been a bad dream.

_'At least the hallucinations have stopped, I can't live like this anymore. Look at me, I'm pathetic. I'm so scared I need to sleep downstairs with the TV on.'_

The image she had seen in her nightmare slowly came back to her, that terrifying image that had caused her to scream out. It had seemed so real, the entire nightmare had been. From the waking to the end where she saw his dead body.

_'What did they do to me? Why did they do this? I'd rather they just killed me instead of this. I thought it would have stopped now, I thought I would have been able to forget and move on and just shove it away, but it's like every time I try to forget someone just forces it to the front of my mind.'_

She got up and made her way into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. She stood there sipping the water, gazing up at the stars.

_'He's out there and he's not dead. No matter how real that dream seemed he isn't dead. They did this to me, they're controlling me to try to make me think that, to try to weaken me. But I'll fight them. I'm stronger than this.'_

She put the glass down and wiped her eyes again, desperately wishing she could stop crying.

_'I'm stronger than this, damn it.'_

_28__th__ October 2015_

**Meeting Room – 1300 hours**

Asuka glared straight ahead. She wasn't budging on this no matter how much they disagreed with her. She wasn't going to be cast aside, she was as much a part of this as any of them were and after all she had been through she deserved to be a part of it. She didn't care about Misato's pleas that it was dangerous or Gendo's warning that in her current state she could be killed. Hell, Gendo was to blame for this, if he hadn't chosen her to be injected with the serum none of this would have happened.

Misato sighed and turned to the angered agent, "Look Asuka, I know how much you want to be a part of this but please reconsider. In your condition it might not be wise to go ahead with this."

"My condition is just fine Misato, the hallucinations have stopped..." She paused for a brief moment before speaking again, her voice ripe with sarcasm "...and I'm glad you told everyone about them, I just love people knowing about how I am."

Gendo moved to cut her off, "Sohryu, it was me who ordered Katsuragi to explain what was happening. If you want to blame someone for that then blame me, but we have little time to play this game."

Asuka snarled and spoke, "Fine, but I want to know a good reason why I've been excluded from this. I'm still capable of carrying this out. I'll be more useful down there than on Radio support."

Gendo turned to his associate Fuyutsuki, hoping he could offer some insight. Gendo hadn't disclosed why he didn't want to send Sohryu, he couldn't tell her it would only make her condition worse. If she became aware of the implant SEELE would have her terminated immediately.

At the same time, she was right. She probably was capable of handling the assignment, but that would be under normal circumstances. She had been weakened and with SEELE putting that implant into her they could take her out at the worst possible moment. He tried to think of it logically, she was still useful even as she was. She could probably assist Rei and Kaji in getting into the facility before SEELE caught wind of her location.

On the other hand, he would be losing another Evangelion. He had already lost Shinji and losing another would be a huge blow to the cause. The rest of the group were already growing restless and he needed to keep them hidden until SEELE brought along the first of the colony ships.

"Agent Sohryu, do you truly believe you are capable of handling this?"

Asuka smirked arrogantly at Gendo's question, "Of course I'm capable, I'm the best person for this job and you know it. Just tell me what I need to do."

Fuyutsuki glanced across at the director, wondering just what he was playing at.

_'What is he doing? SEELE will find out and kill her the minute they learn she is there. He can't let this happen to her, she's still human.'_

Gendo nodded. This was against his better judgement, but given the options he could find no better choice, "Fine, you shall accompany Rei and Agent Kaji to the facility. Once there you will attempt to infiltrate the facility. SEELE have long since cut off contact from me so I do not know what is there. However, it is likely you will encounter an Angel there."

Misato leapt up from her seat, apparently unhappy at Gendo's decision. She didn't want to see Asuka unhappy, but she'd rather have that than seeing her dead, "What are you playing at? I thought we all agreed it was too dangerous for her. We can't send her in."

Asuka turned to her, "I can handle myself Misato, I'm not a child."

"You have only been out of the hospital for two weeks Asuka, how can you even consider going back there. Is it revenge on them you want?"

"Yes I want revenge Misato, because of what they fucking did to me. Because of what they did to all of us. I'm not going to fail nor am I going to die. Thank you for your concern, but as far as I'm concerned you can save it for someone else who needs it."

Asuka got up from her seat and stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of them sitting in silence. Misato got up, ready to go after her, but Kaji stopped her, "Leave it for now Misato, let her be alone for a few moments."

"I shall go and see her." All the people in the room looked to the source of the voice with slight shock. Rei had been silent for the entire meeting, only offering slight input when asked to confirm something.

Rei left the room, leaving the rest of them to plan the details. Misato quickly moved to voice her concern, "I can't believe we're going to let her do this. It's a suicide mission."

Kaji placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. He wished Misato wouldn't come to these meetings. Especially in the condition she was in, all she had done in the past few weeks was worry about Asuka or Shinji when she should be thinking about other things. This wasn't right, she was pregnant, she should be relaxing and not having to deal with this.

He voiced his own opinion, "Is there any way we can send Sohryu on this mission without causing further risk to her?"

Gendo shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not. She's a time bomb as it is. The implant SEELE put into her means we cannot do much."

Misato looked up, "Implant?"

Fuyutsuki nodded, "Yes, she has been fitted with some type of implant. That is why she is suffering the hallucinations. We cannot however inform her about this because it is our belief that if she becomes aware of it and attempts to have it removed SEELE will use it to kill her."

Misato looked on in shock. So this was why they were willing to let her go. Either way she was going to die it seemed. "You mean she's going to die either way?"

Gendo quickly answered her, "No, not unless we can find a way to remove the implant safely. We believe that it is being controlled from the Island facility. If we can find a way to remove the people controlling it then it will be easy to remove. However, the moment SEELE learns any of us are there they will probably move to kill her."

_Sometime in 2018_

**Tokyo 3 Ruins  
**Asuka quickly ducked into the small shelter and looked around. It was getting dark, soon the patrols would be out and looking for her again. She had to find him quickly and get him back to the camp before that happened. She slowly peeked around the corner, trying to find any signs of life. She couldn't see anything, but she knew they were out there. One of them had seen her, she only hoped the others were safe.

She prepared herself to leave the hiding spot, when just at that moment she heard and saw a large explosion from the other end of the city. She watched the cloud of smoke and debris go up into the air.

_'Damn it, now they're going to send the scouting groups out earlier.'_

Three years it had been like this, three years since they arrived and the resistance made their presence known. Asuka couldn't help but feel like they were fighting a losing battle, their only hope was the child or in his rescue and Asuka didn't like the idea of placing all the worlds hope in the hands of a small child.

_'Especially considering the parents.'_

She continued watching as a group of scouts walked past her hiding spot. She shivered, looking at their cybernetic bodies. It was so inhuman, like something from a nightmare. She caught a glimpse of one of their faces. She recognised him, he had been a member of the resistance up until a few weeks ago until he was captured.

It was a fate worse than death. Asuka apologized to him silently as she stepped out from the hiding place and aimed two carefully placed shots in the backs of their heads, killing them instantly. That was probably one of the only good things about the drones, their lack of an A.T. Field made it easier to kill them. They were slaves, puppets controlled by the higher forces. Only used because of the overwhelming amount of them.

She continued moving along the street, being extra careful not to run into any more patrols. So far she had only seen scouts, but they would be sending out the controllers soon. Then she would have more trouble, she would have to switch ammunition and she would have to deal with their A.T. Fields.

She pressed herself up against the wall and looked around carefully. The prison block was up ahead. It was low security, not so much a prison as a slum area. Anyone captured was sent there, awaiting harvesting. Then they would become drones. That was if they survived their time there. Some people weren't harvested, gangs controlled the streets here. They were given the area in exchange for a promise that as long as they stuck to that area they would not be harvested. It was a good deal, they had power and kept their lives.

Her own prize was in there though. She could find him there, if the information was accurate he was being held by one of the gangs. If she could secure him it could deal a serious blow to them, the aliens, and cause a great boost to the resistance.

She moved into the streets, blending in easily. If you had a gun you were immediately thought of as being in a gang. They would leave you alone then, if you had an assault rifle you were thought of as being a commander in a gang. Then they would definitely leave you alone. Luckily for Asuka, she happened to have both. All she had to worry about now was one of the residents trying to take her out.

She felt a faint rumbling sound beneath her and looked up. There was another explosion, only this time it was a lot closer. People around her quickly got up and began rushing away from the explosion. Soon there was a sea of people pushing against her. Was there this many people before? No, there couldn't have been.

"Let me past, come on."

They ignored her and kept pushing her back as there was another explosion. She screamed out as she felt herself being swept back with an even greater force. But not because of the people, because she could see him. He was there in front of her, only she couldn't move.

"Shinji! Please turn around, you've got to come with me!"

It was no use, he couldn't hear her. She felt herself get swept away with the crowd as she got one final gaze at him.

_30__th__ October 2015_

**Asuka's Residence – 0540 hours**

Her eyes opened slowly as she found herself once again on her sofa downstairs. On the TV some early morning news show had started up. That was all a dream? The Resistance, the ruins, the explosions, it was all just a dream?

She groaned and sat up, _'Just what I need before we go to Marduk, at least this time it wasn't a nightmare.'_

She looked at the time on the TV Screen. It would only be a few hours until they would be dropped onto the island. She had to get ready for it and prepare herself, if she messed up this time she knew there would be no second chance.

**Marduk Island Facility – 1300 hours**

Asuka stood up and took her parachute off, her stomach still turning over from the experience. Parachuting onto the island was an experience she didn't want to remember. She looked around, looking out for the signal. After a few moments it came, short bursts of a flash light that meant they were all right to meet up and plan their next move.

A chill ran down her spine as she went to meet with Kaji and Ayanami. The last time she had been on this island she had suffered complete humiliation. Her entire mind had been shown on a screen and played back to her. She wanted to ensure that this time she would not be humiliated. She checked her clock. Just as expected, it was the right time. She had to wonder just why it was so dark here. They hadn't travelled that far from Japan, had they?

She eventually came to the small clearing where Ayanami and Kaji had already met up. She nodded at them and made her way over to them, taking her backpack off and taking the map of the island out.

"Okay, so what now? We should have landed pretty close to the facility, but we can't just go through the front door."

Rei nodded, "Agreed, we need to find some other way in and then signal Katsuragi to begin the countdown."

Asuka looked at the map. The facility had been marked on it but, unfortunately, it was nothing more than a guess. Her concentration was interrupted when she heard Kaji cursing as he took out the radio equipment. He turned to them both and spoke his voice solemn.

"They've got something set up here. They're probably blocking all radio facilities from the facility itself. Our short range radios should work but we can't transmit off the island."

"Can you get it working?" Asuka enquired.

He nodded, "If you and Ayanami can stop what's blocking the equipment then yes, easily."

"Good, you should stay and look after the equipment. We'll radio you when we find out what's blocking the signals."

Asuka folded up the map and looked towards the jungle. According to their information and if they landed in the right place it should only be an hour or so to the facility. They also had the fact that it was dark on their side. That would make it significantly easier to get there. Next to her she saw Rei producing her pistol and the special ammunition they had been given.

"They will probably have patrols out and potentially have set up traps in the area. We should be weary of this."

Asuka nodded, "Right. Well, let's get going."

**Nearby Platform – 1315 hours**

Misato looked at the screen and adjusted her headset slightly. They should have made it onto the island by now. They should have radioed to say they were there and heading towards the facility, so why hadn't they? The atmosphere inside the small room was incredibly tense, even the director, a man she had quickly learnt never let his emotion be shown looked to be incredibly nervous.

Misato tried to calm herself down, there was probably a good reason why there had been no contact yet. She just wish she knew it. Thankfully, Fuyutsuki had a good theory of his own.

"They'll probably have something set up to block outgoing signals. They'll have been expecting us to return."

Gendo spoke, "Agreed, I have already informed Rei of what to do in this situation. It should only be a matter of time until we have established contact with her."

**Marduk Island Facility – 1400 hours**

They had been walking for one hour and there had been nothing. No facility, no patrols and no traps. Asuka was beginning to wonder if they were even on the correct island. In front of her she saw Rei stop and look around, she too wondering just where they had gone wrong.

"This is unusual, the facility should be in front of us. We must have planned the wrong route."

Asuka sighed and leant against one of the trees, her feet killing her from walking non stop for an hour and the sweat dripping down her face. She took one of the bottles of water out of her bag and threw it over to Rei, also taking one out for herself. "Brilliant news, how can we have planned the wrong route though? By what you guys saw last time the facility covered half the island."

"That is correct, that is why I am finding this unusual."

"So we're lost then, well that's brillia-"

Asuka was cut off as she felt a sharp pain cut through her head. She brought her hand up to clutch her head as it shot through her again.

_'Not now, any other time but not now.'_

She looked up and stopped herself from screaming out at the sight she saw behind Rei. He was there only he was...he was dead, hanging from one of the trees. Shinji was there, only a matter of metres in front of her. Had they found him, no they couldn't have done. Shinji was alive and she knew it, it was just another illusion, a sickening hallucination.

Asuka tried to move to cover her eyes but found herself unable to move, unable to do anything, she couldn't even scream out. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a faint movement, was someone there?

Rei stood motionless, her eyes transfixed on Asuka, who wasn't moving. She was fixed on something beyond Rei, something that wasn't there.

_'They know we're here, they're going to kill he-'_

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw something rustling out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw the faint traces of an A.T. Field. She withdrew her gun and aimed it at the source of the field, only to feel someone pressing the cold steel of a pistol into the back of her neck.

"Don't even try to use your A.T. Field here. We have more than enough of the same ammunition you're currently using and unless you want to see your friend die in front of you I wouldn't suggest trying to fight back either."

It was a woman's voice. Rei tried to turn to see who was speaking, only to feel the person pressing the gun against her even more. The woman spoke again, "Don't worry, your friend has only been put into a temporary state of shock, she isn't dead yet. She'll just be catatonic for a while whilst we run some more tests on her. You, however, we have something very special planned for you."

With those words Rei saw another person stepping out of the jungle and moving towards her. How many people were there? Had they been following them all that time or was this just coincidence? She felt the person lift her arm up and inject something into her, the last words she heard before she fell into unconsciousness was the woman speaking again.

"Prepare her for core extraction, we want to find out how Gendo was able to create this."


	27. Wearing The Inside Out

_30__th__ October 2015_

**Nearby Platform – 1500 hours**

Misato looked on tensely, there was still no signal from them, she couldn't help but fear the worst. Something must have gone wrong in the time they had been there, she could sense it. She was alone in the radio room, Fuyutsuki and Gendo having left a while ago to look for any signal from the island.

She took her headset off and watched the screen, looking for any signs of an incoming communication. Still nothing. For nearly two hours she had been sitting in this floating platform, worried out of her mind. She looked down at herself, at the small bump that was beginning to show. No one could know how the baby would grow up, Misato could slowly begin to feel herself losing her sanity as it all began to catch up with her.

A faint beeping noise came from the machine in front of her. She quickly jumped forward and put the headset on. Finally, this was it, they had been able to do it they had gotten communications back. She spoke into the headset frantically, "Asuka, Rei are you two alright? Did everything go fine?"

The voice that replied however was not the one that she expected, "Close Misato, but not quite. I'm approaching the platform now, make sure all three of you are there, okay?"

They were approaching, that meant they were successful. She sighed in relief and exited the room after hearing Kaji's words. Maybe there was still some hope for them after all. She made her way out to the main platform where she saw Fuyutsuki and Gendo helping Kaji up onto the platform. There was just one problem, Asuka and Rei were not with him. Nor was any of the equipment or weapons Kaji had been given.

She stepped forward, "Kaji, what…why are you alone?"

He turned to face her. There was no smile on his face as usual, no attempt to reassure her. He dashed forward and wrapped his arms around her apologizing to her. "I'm so sorry Misato, there was nothing I could do."

The words hit her like a freight train. Did that mean that that Asuka and Rei didn't make it? That couldn't have been it though, if that was the case then why would they let Kaji go? Surely they would have killed everyone.

Gendo looked out towards the island, the realization that Asuka and Rei had been taken just hitting him. It had been a trap, they should have known. Marduk were prepared for them, just as they were prepared when Asuka and Rei infiltrated Marduk's headquarters and he had walked right into it. He had handed over the remaining Evangelions and, more importantly, humanities hope to stop SEELE. He questioned Kaji, his own voice not betraying the emotion he felt.

"Agent Kaji, what happened?"

"They were waiting for us, Armisael and a number of the Aliens themselves. It looks like SEELE are using the remaining Angels against us. They've manipulated the angels into it. It's possible that Nagisa is an Angel as well."

Gendo nodded, "I see, what happened when you got to the island?"

"We landed as expected and found out that the communications were out. Asuka and Rei set out to infiltrate the facility and try to find out what was blocking the signal, they told me to stay behind to work on the communications devices. About an hour later I was ambushed. There were about twelve people surrounding me and then Armisael herself stepped out."

"Who were the people?"

"They weren't human, I can tell you that much. As for why they were working with an Angel, I don't know. I always thought they feared the Angels."

Gendo clenched his hand into a fist and unclenched it, a nervous habit of his he had not exhibited since before the impact. The Angels and the Aliens working together, SEELE would never permit such a thing. It would only complicate matters, but it was happening nonetheless. Did this mean that their arrival would come much sooner then the December 30th date set?

He continued questioning Kaji, "What happened after that?"

"She informed me that she had the remaining Evangelions and that she would spare their lives if I left and passed on a message to you."

Gendo nodded, "What message?"

"Not to return, or they will kill both Rei and Asuka. She said that they can extract Rei's core whether or not she is dead..."

Misato raised her head, not sure what that even meant, "Rei's core?"

Gendo turned to face them and removed his glasses. For the first time, she could actually see his eyes. They looked very much like Shinji's, of course they were older and maybe a bit wiser but the similarities between the two were astounding. Gendo looked up towards the sky and replied, "We leave here immediately. If they are trying to extract Rei's core then this is graver than expected. I did not think they would try to do such a thing.

**SEELE's Domain – Time Unknown**

Keel sat at the end of the table with a proud smile on his face, and after all why shouldn't he be proud? More than thirty years had gone into this since the discovery of those ships and every stage had been planned out in great detail. First contact with the aliens, locating and extracting the DNA of the being known as Adam, the Angel Project and then the Impact Incident itself. So many people had been sacrificed, so much time money and effort had gone into it and now it was beginning to pay off.

He looked around, ready to make his announcement. He had to wonder how the other members of the committee would take it. They each represented different governments or corporations, all of them huge players in the global market. Most of the world's super powers were represented by certain public officials or men like Keel who preferred to work outside of the public eye.

They would probably disagree with him at first, he thought to himself, but they would see the light. He had already made preparations in case once of them were to disagree. He reached into his jacket pocket and felt the handgun there, loaded with ammunition from the Lance. Of course he had to be prepared for that as well. Keel knew about people, he knew what made them tick and how to manipulate them. Any one of those people on the committee could be working with their own agenda much like him or they could even have gone as far as to work with Gendo Ikari.

He smiled at how ironic that would be, the fifteen year war of minds between him and Gendo ended because someone else here had been working secretly all this time. They would both lose and then who knows what would happen. Gendo wanted to 'save the world', Keel wanted to be around to watch it transform into a new world, his idealistic vision, and become its God.

The doors to the chamber closed and locked them in. This was a special building built thirty years ago a few miles away from the sight that would become Tokyo 3. It was meant to be a safe house, a place to house SEELE and convert them into the rulers they were prophesised to be. Prophesised to rule over humanity and share equal power when it ascended to its next state of being.

He stood up as the main overhead lights went on, illuminating the room. As he stood he took a look around at the room that had been build for them, the room itself was an interesting design. A mixture of influences in the chamber from Earth's early cultures. This particular chamber was mostly Egyptian, one of the first cultures to make contact with the alien beings and those who had the honour of being amongst the first beings to be harvested.

"Gentlemen welcome, I am sure you are all aware why we are here. The bells have sounded and soon we shall take our rightful place in this brave new world."

The reaction, as he had expected, was not overly positive, of course that was understandable. They were not meant to convene like this until the thirtieth of December. That was two months away. One of them spoke up almost immediately.

"I presume you have a good reason for keeping us held up here Keel, this was not due until two months from now. Why did we not just call another meeting and why are we here when there are two Angels remaining?"

Keel stood and smiled at his comrade. He pressed a button on his desk and a screen opened up at the centre of the table. It was a star map showing the location of several ships and a location marked Earth.

"There are explanations for both, as you can see the schedule has been accelerated. We simply have no more reason to wait any longer, both Angels can be dealt with swiftly and firmly. Tabris will willingly sacrifice himself for our cause and Armiseal will be dealt with in the next few days. I shall personally see to it that Gendo Ikari himself is present at both executions. After all, we also have all three Evangelions under our control."

One of the other members of the committee stood up angrily and started speaking, "On whose authority was all this done Keel? We agreed to not interfere. You lied to the committee, something which you know is punishable by death."

"On my authority."

This was the moment Keel had been waiting for, the moment to assert himself as the true leader, to let them all know what would happen to those that challenged him. He took out the hand gun and promptly shot the person who challenged him directly in the heart. The person attempted to produce an A.T. Field but the bullet ripped straight through it like it was nothing.

The other members looked on in shock, none of them daring to move after what they had witnessed. Just as Keel had suspected someone would attempt to overthrow him, it was a good thing he was prepared for it.

Two guards came into the room and picked up the dying man, dragging him out of the room. The rest of the committee simply watched in silence as he was dragged away.

"Just as I expected, this is why I accelerated the schedule, to ensure that we still succeed. If we had waited then who knows what would have happened? We have already had to contend with Gendo Ikari's futile plans and now one of our own injected himself with the serum in an attempt to betray us.

One of the other representatives spoke, "My government will not be pleased with this Keel. They expected more warning to prepare people for the harvesting. This will complicate matters, they will attempt to withdraw and declare war."

"Let them, we will be more than prepared for them just as we will be for Gendo Ikari's resistance."

"Understood, then so be it. I will contact them in the morning informing them that it has been accelerated and to get as many people prepared as possible, if they do not comply then they will be destroyed."

**Marduk Facility**

Rei slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up, to little success. She waited a moment for the dizziness to subside before she made another attempt. Through the bars of her cage, she could see that it was no longer night time. Just how long had she been out for and what had happened to Asuka or Kaji?

The last thing she could remember was being in the jungle with Asuka and then Asuka had a hallucination of sorts and then they were captured. It was a trap, such a perfect one too. It seems that Marduk and Armiseal were several steps ahead of them. Rei slowly stood up and looked around the cage she was in. It wasn't a huge cage, only a couple of metres square. The entire floor of the cage was covered in sand. Most surprising though was that the door was open and she could easily just walk out.

She stood up, still feeling weak from whatever Armiseal had injected into her, everything around her was silent. She couldn't hear the wind, birds or anything, there wasn't even a sound coming from the waves. It was completely silent like she had been placed in the middle of a dead land somewhere. A wave of loneliness swept over her as she looked around, she had never felt like this before. Never longed for anyone to be near her but now she found herself wanting someone there.

She felt the effects of the drugs wearing off and stood up, examining the cage a bit more. It was just a standard cage, nothing she could see leading to or from it. The door, as she had noted earlier, was wide open, allowing her to leave if she wanted. She couldn't just leave though, could she? That would be too easy, there had to be more to this. She sat back down and decided to stay put for now. As soon as she sat down her thoughts wandered to Asuka and to the others waiting for them.

_'Is Sohryu in a similar state to what I am in?'_

When she had last seen her Asuka had been frozen to the spot, unable to move or do anything. Was she still the same way?

_'She shouldn't have came here, I shouldn't have persuaded Ikari to let her return or to keep her in the hospital. I wanted her to be here, despite how she hates me, because I wanted to help her get Shinji back. I wanted to prove I wasn't a doll...and I failed.'_

Rei felt tears threatening to form in her eyes, she looked on in shock, not even sure why she was crying. Was it because she believed she had failed? She wiped her eyes with her hand and looked towards the open cage.

_'I...I should try to get them back...if anything happens...I can be replaced.'_

She stood again and walked out of the cage, surprised when nothing happened. It all seemed a little bit too easy. She took a few steps before hearing something making a beeping noise. She turned back round to the cage, trying to find the source of the noise. It seemed to be coming from something on her. She reached into her jacket and found the device, which seemed to be a communication device, although how it worked she did not have any idea.

She pressed a button on the side of the device and a screen popped up. The first thing she saw was the face of Armiseal, the person responsible for her being here. The angel smiled arrogantly and began to speak.

"_Agent Ayanami, Evangelion Unit Zero, it's nice to see you have awakened and have decided to step out of the cage we gave you. Around the corner from this place you will find basic supplies and what you need to survive."_

She was giving Rei supplies and keeping her alive...why? For what purpose? "Why are you doing this?"

"_We're not a malicious organisation Ayanami, all we want to do is help humanity. But how can we do that when you and your colleagues keep on interfering? We want an end to this hostility between our two camps, however, that does not come without a price."_

Armiseal paused for a moment before continuing to talk, _"Currently you are on the same Island as we are. You have been placed in an area where we can watch you easily."_

"Why didn't you just kill me?"

"Killing you would be ruining our opportunity to study you and we would lose our bargaining chip against your people Rei. You know just how special you are to them, the fact that Gendo Ikari went to such trouble to cover up how you were created speaks volumes. Also, you are no use to us dead. You are a miracle Rei Ayanami, you are one of the only living human clones in the world, if not the only one. As you saw we have tried and tried to replicate a human, but imagine our shock when we learnt that one was made over fifteen years ago right under our very noses."

"Is that why you want Katsuragi and her child?"

"_Exactly why we wanted them, it provided us an excellent chance to study what Gendo Ikari did. Why you are the only one to live past a year, what is it about you which makes you so special, Ayanami?"_

"I...do not know what you are talking about."

"_The clones Rei, they're all clones using Angel DNA, just like you are but they don't live they either die in the tank or a few months to a year into life. Why hasn't that happened to you?"_

"I do not know the circumstances of my creation."

"_I see, well not to worry. Next time we meet we will hopefully have answers either from the samples collected from your core or from Gendo himself. Until that time, enjoy yourself Ayanami, I hope it does not get too lonely for you down there."_

**Tokyo 3 Streets – 30****th**** October 2300 hours**

Ignorance, a lack of knowledge or a wilful lack of desire to improve one's actions. People can also be in a state of ignorance in which they do not know or have an unwillingness to know or believe. It can be said that fifteen years after the impact incident humans are in a constant state of ignorance. Ignorance as to what really happened, ignorance as to their upcoming fate. Ignorance that stems from lies fed to them by their governments and the people that run the world, the so called politicians, managers and military leaders.

Of course, this is due to no fault of theirs. With such a tragic incident people would not dream of questioning things like that. Those that have questioned it, that do know the truth but refused to believe, those are the ones that are truly ignorant. However, it could be said that even if they did accept the truth, who could they turn to?

There is of course the old saying that 'ignorance is bliss', that you cannot be affected by something you do not know. This is how many people within the city of Tokyo 3 felt on that night. None of them knew about what was going to happen. They all went about their daily affairs, taxis carried people back and forth from night clubs. Parents tucked their kids up safely in their beds. The corrupt politicians went into their red light districts for their weekly dose of pleasure.

It was very similar to the night of the second impact in Tokyo. People believing they were safe, happy. Despite the night life in the inner city the rest of it seemed to be safe, calm and tranquil and then the first light appeared. It wasn't anything noticeable at first, a small white flash in the sky, which seemed like nothing. The second flash, however, that was when people began to take notice. It was a larger white flash, shortly accompanied by a horrific growling noise almost like the engines working the gates of hell had been put on overdrive.

People stopped and looked up at the source of the flash and the growling noise. None of them knew about the impact or what it had been like when it occurred, with an event with only a small handful of survivors it was to be expected. There was a third flash, again another white flash, however, this time an object could be spotted heading towards the city. It was a small capsule shaped object. On the streets people began to panic, startled by this sighting. People began shouting and screaming and pushing their way down the streets.

The capsule landed on one of the busy streets, right in the centre of the crowd, killing most of them instantly. The survivors stood transfixed, almost in a hypnotic state, at the small lights being emitted from the capsule. Those that could stand and walk made their way towards it, their mouths wide open almost in a zombie like state. A huge light swept through the street abducting anyone unfortunate enough to get caught up in it. Those that had witnessed this from their hiding places screamed out and scrambled around desperately trying to get away.

Soon the streets were filled with most of Tokyo 3's inner city population. Capsule after capsule were landing in the streets and taking people away. Soon the sky erupted into a series of white flashes as more capsules were sent down and larger objects were spotted. One of the objects stopped over the streets above another crowd of people. It was a huge pyramid shaped craft, on its lower base a huge circular opening could be seen.

The people beneath it screamed and shouted as each person tried to force their way out of this craft's range. Men and women, families and the single, they were all there, all vying for the same goal, to get away from this fate that had been fifteen years in the making. The base of the pyramid shaped craft opened fully as another white light swept over the people in the street, making them vanish almost instantly.

Another sound could be heard in the distance, this wasn't one of the crafts though this was something else. A squadron of fighter jets moved into place around the city, they each took aim at one of the pyramid shaped crafts and fired damaging the craft severely. They swept around and got ready for another run, this time though the craft fought back. A ray of light cut through the fighter jets like they were nothing. The people who had stopped to watch the potential fightback felt all their hopes disappear.

More jets came into the fray this time they managed to dodge the energy ray sent out by the craft, they fired whatever they had into the craft causing it to crash to the ground. Before anyone had a moment to rejoice though another craft took its place and took out the jets just as easily as the previous one had.

It went on and on, flashes would occur and people would vanish. It was a panicked frenzy on the streets. Police sirens could be heard under the growl of the crafts hovering over the city and then almost as suddenly as it started there was another flash and all the crafts had gone. People stopped moving, stopped rushing around and looked up towards the sky. Was that it? Was it over, or was this some sick interval? The eye of the storm while another round was prepared? The silence continued. People began moving, still scared and panicked, towards the edge of the city, like some wild march. Millions of people rushing headlong, scared, broken, fearing for theirs and their families' lives.

Minutes passed by and soon the minutes turned to an hour. People were still being routed back to their homes by the police barricades set up on the edges. Children cried, women screamed and the men shouted angrily at the barricades. Angry that they were just being sent back after all that had happened. Media crews were set up at the barricades, reporting on the night's events, asking if this was truly what they thought it was and if this was only the first of many attacks.

_1__st__ November 2015_

**Misato's Residence – 1100 hours**

"_Last night there was a repeat of the events which occurred on the thirtieth of October. There has been no official word yet on what is or was happening, however the Japanese Military has been moved into place around Tokyo 3. Eyewitness accounts are reporting the same as we saw two nights ago, white flashes in the sky and strange almost alien spacecraft being reported abducting people. The government has refused to comment on if what we are really seeing is in fact alien beings, but the public certainly seem to be of that opinion._

_Today Tokyo 3 City news has also learned of similar incidents occurring in cities such as New York, London and Melbourne. As can be seen from the images in front of you the tragic incident has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and just as many missing. Many people are opting to leave the city, but Police have set up barricades and fences around the city in order to contain any threat. However, we do believe an official evacuation will begin at fourteen hundred hours."_

Misato switched off the TV and hurled her remote at the wall in anger. It was happening all over again, it was the same as the Impact incident only now they were prolonging it. This time though it wouldn't just be a city being taken, it'd be the entire world and there was nothing they could do about it.

She felt a warm pair of hands move over her and pull her in closely, she looked straight up into Kaji's concerned eyes. Almost immediately she began to sob into his shoulder.

She looked past him into her hallway where Kaji had previously placed a pair of suitcases containing all of Misato's belongings. That only made the tears flow more easily, she didn't want to leave. She had protested, but to no avail. She would have to go, it was for the best and for her own protection, but that would mean she would be alone again. Shinji was still gone, Asuka and Rei were gone and Kaji would have to stay behind in Tokyo 3. The only reason she had to leave was because of the baby.

_'I waited...I wanted this more then anything, to be a parent to have my own child. That's why I cared so much for Shinji but now...because of this I can't even help him, I have to leave because of this...'_

"Kaji...why can't I stay here?"

Kaji sighed and stroked her hair gently, "I already explained this Misato, it's too dangerous for you in your condition. Where we're sending you it's safe. They won't be able to find you there."

"How do I know that though? How can we even trust Gendo, after all he has done?"

"You've seen what he has done though, you know why. His methods were inexcusable, but he won't risk losing needless life again for this. He's not willing to sacrifice you and a baby for this cause, that's why he wants you away from here."

He released her and she walked over towards the window, looking out over Tokyo 3. It was quiet with no one on the streets. Everyone had either been relegated to their homes or had already left. In the distance battered buildings could be seen from where the capsules had crashed into them on the past two nights. Two days in and already the city was looking like it had been a complete war zone. She only wondered how long it would be until the entire city had been taken.

"Even if I do go SEELE will find it."

"They won't find this place, where Gendo is sending you is safe and protected. You'll meet more people from the resistance there. It's in an area that's dangerous to the aliens for some reason, there are certain properties similar to the Longinus artifact that SEELE found."

She looked at him and just nodded.

"I see then I guess...this is goodbye..." she smiled slightly, "Again."

Kaji smiled back and stood for a moment before embracing her again, "Misato...promise me you'll look after our baby until I return to you..."

_2__nd__ November 2015_

**NERV Offices – 0900 hours**

Gendo stepped through the elevator doors and looked down the corridor. Boxes were piled up, filled with other agent's belongings. Most of them had already left. The only ones staying behind were himself, Fuyutsuki and Kaji. Akagi was running the evacuation of the agents within the resistance and using the Magi to ensure NERV would be safe. It was only a matter of time though, SEELE would soon be able to attack. It surprised Gendo that they hadn't already attempted an attack.

He stepped up to his office door, this would be the last day he'd be using it. He stepped through the door and looked at his desk. Sitting at the desk was the man responsible for all of this. Gendo smiled coldly and reached for his gun. Keel must have been a fool for coming here. Almost immediately after Gendo felt his hand grasp the metal handle he noticed a series of small red dots aimed directly at his chest.

_'Of course, Keel would never come alone.'_

"That wouldn't be a good idea my friend, you might have noticed we have some people watching this little meeting and they won't hesitate either. That's the good thing about working with these people, they don't have human emotions to cloud their judgement unlike the people you chose to be part of the Evangelion project."

Gendo simply stood there, his expression not changing, "What is the nature of this visit, Keel?"

"To catch up on things old friend, you know without you none of this would have been possible."

"This is not my doing, why did SEELE accelerate the schedule without informing me?"

"Why should we inform a traitor of our plans when he refuses to inform us of his?"

Gendo smirked arrogantly. Just as he had thought, SEELE had known. He only wondered how long they had known and why they hadn't acted sooner.

"We've known a long time Gendo, we just didn't act because there was nothing you could have done to stop us. As you saw, any attempts to resist us were useless, Shinji tried and look what happened to him. Sohryu suffered the same fate as her mother and now even Ayanami has been taken. We have all the Evangelions and we have the last two angels. There is no one to stop us."

That didn't answer the question Gendo was thinking though, "So why am I still alive?"

"Because, Gendo, we could still use you. You can do something we want and we can do something you want."

"And just what is it I want?"

"The Evas." Keel paused for a moment before continuing, "There are two angels left. Although they agreed to begin the first stage of harvesting, they still fear the Angels. However, we cannot kill them ourselves, the only thing that can kill an Angel is that which was created from the same thing, the Evangelion. You know that, the ammunition from the Longinus will only go so far with these ones."

"You already have all three of the Evangelions, what possible use could I be?"

"Correction, the remaining two Angels have the Eva's, SEELE does not. I'm giving you an opportunity here Gendo, to reclaim the Eva's."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then they die, the attacks will stop and the Angels will make contact instead, causing the destruction of mankind."

Gendo thought about it for a moment. Keel wasn't giving him a choice. There had never been a choice, but the thought of lowering himself to working for Keel again, to doing his dirty work, it sickened him.

"What do I need to do?"

"Prepare some of your resistance members to attack the Marduk facility where Ayanami is being held. When we know that Armiseal is dead then I will give you what you need to find the last Angel. I want you to know this though Ikari, if you try to betray us we will not hesitate to kill you, the remaining Eva's and the child that Katsuragi carries."

**Marduk Facility**

Rei looked across at the small building, it was all she had done for the past four days. Studied it and the people inside, their routines, when they moved and when they didn't. Just trying to get a better understanding of how things were done. Their weapons were only basic stun guns, nothing lethal but enough to take someone down for a couple of hours. What she didn't know, however, was what was beyond the perimeter, how many more people would be waiting, or even if there were more looking in.

She had gotten a good idea of what could be done, she just needed to pick the right time to put it into action. She brought her knees up to her chin and shuddered slightly, it was going to be night time soon, night times were cold and lonely. There was nothing to say or do during the day although every so often scientists from the facility would come to her, take samples and question her about her life, how she was born and other questions Rei didn't know the answers to.

The same questions everyday, Rei hadn't resisted with any of it. There was no point, no one had given her an order of what to do, so she had to think for herself. She had to think about it logically, fighting back would only make it worse.

It was the first time in her short life she had really had never been given an order or some sort of direction. She still had her overall order in mind, the order too defeat the Angels by any means necessary but that was all she had.

She looked up at the sky and saw a helicopter flying over her going to land on the island. That was unusual, the helicopter wasn't due until later tonight. Every night for the past four nights it had came and gone at the same time. She ignored it and continued looking up at the sky. She wanted to get away from here, away from the injections and the questioning. Her time here alone, it had forced new emotions and feelings onto her. She had felt so much in the past few days that she had never felt before. That loneliness that had always been there inside her, it was now being accompanied by other emotions. Sadness, Anger, even hatred, the emotions would come sporadically and then go as soon as they had arrived.

_'Why do I feel all this...I have always felt loneliness...it has always been there but all these other feelings, why are they there?'_

Rei was broken from her thoughts when she heard the voices of one of the people guarding her, they seemed to be coming towards her. She stood to face them as they brought up their stun guns and aimed them directly at her. They seemed frightened, something must have happened or something must be happening.

_'They are anxious__...I could use this to my advantage.'_

Just as she made her decision there was an explosion from the other side of the island. This was her chance. She quickly grabbed the outstretched arm of the guard, causing him to drop the stun gun. Almost immediately she threw him towards the other guard using him as a shield to catch the shot from the gun. Rei nimbly picked up the other gun and took out the remaining guard before taking off towards their outpost.

She would still have to be careful though, she didn't know what would have caused the explosion, but she knew it had something to do with that helicopter she had seen earlier.

_'I could use that to escape...I need to find Sohryu first though...'_

Rei made her way towards the outpost. Inside she could hear the voices of several other guards. She waited until she could hear one near the door and swiftly burst inside grabbing hold of him using him as a shield just as she had the other person. She took out the other guards in the room and looked around for anything better than a basic stun gun. She was sure that whatever the guards had in the main complex it would be a little bit more powerful.

There was another large explosion from the other side of the Island. She looked into one of the desks and found a small handgun. Examining the ammunition, she noted that it was the same material as the Longinus ammunition.

_'This should suffice...'_

**Marduk Facility Interior**

Rei quietly closed the door behind her. It had been easy to get inside, almost too easy. Outside she could hear the sound of gunfire. She recognized one of the voices of the people shouting immediately

_'He has returned for me...'_

Rei looked around. She needed to get to Sohryu to help her escape, but first she needed to take care of Armiseal. She moved into the next room and was not surprised to see the base had switched to emergency status. However, what did surprise her was that there was no one in view. Surely they would have kept people guarding inside just in case people started getting in. The familiar feeling of it being a trap crept into Rei's mind.

She stepped through into one of the laboratories. Once again it was deserted and completely powered down, with only the emergency lights running. Rei carefully crept through it, making sure to keep as low and silent as possible, just in case someone was waiting for her. There was another loud explosion, this time rocking the entire facility.

_'That was from inside here. They've managed to get in. I don't have much time then, I must take out the Angel.'_

She moved onto the next laboratory, again finding it in a similar situation. In the distance she could hear the sound of more gunfire. Whoever it was, whether friend or foe, they were getting closer. She stepped out into the next corridor and saw the source of the gun fire. More of the facilities guards fighting against what she recognised as Ikari's resistance.

Immediately she extended her A.T Field and swept the facility guards off of their feet and stepped out into the corridor. One of the men looked forward and smiled.

"Hold your fire men, we've secured her."

Rei turned to him and began questioning him, "Who is leading this attack?"

"Gendo is leading half of us while Agent Kaji leads the other half. Our objective is to get you and take you out of here while Gendo takes care of Armiseal."

Rei nodded, "I want you to change your objective."

"With all due respect I think it would be-"

Rei instantly interrupted him, seeming to channel some of Asuka's impatience, "I want you to locate Agent Sohryu and get her to safety, I will be fine on my own. I will assist the Director with taking out Armiseal."

The man began to protest, but then he saw how determined Rei was. He knew it would be useless arguing with her. "I understand, we will locate Sohryu and get her out of here."

"Good."

Rei did not give him a chance to respond. Instead she began to run in the other direction, towards the centre of the complex, where she could sense Armiseal, to where she could sense Gendo. She had completed one of her objectives, rescuing Sohryu, now she just needed to complete the other one. Destroying the Angel that had brought her here.

She continued running until she eventually found herself in a larger room with a multitude of equipment set up around it. As soon as she entered she felt herself get pushed to the ground by an A.T. Field. She looked around and found herself looking up at Armiseal. Her eyes were glowing and her A.T. Field was highly visible.

"Welcome daughter of Lillith, how predictable that I should find you here. Now I will ensure that you do not leave alive just like the rest of your path-"

She was cut off when she felt a bullet tear through her A.T. Field and go right into her chest. She turned around with shock in her eyes and found herself looking at Gendo Ikari accompanied by several other men each with their rifles aimed directly at Armiseal.

"I should have known..."

She stumbled forward as her body began to glow more vibrantly. Eventually the glowing around Armisael's body subsided revealing that her wounds had completely healed. Gendo raised his hand, signalling the other members not to fire at her.

"So SEELE did betray us, just as I thought they would."

"You betrayed yourself by trusting a person like Keel."

Armiseal laughed and spat back at him, "Says the person who is carrying out his dirty work. Just so he can save that abomination lying over there. I give you credit Gendo, we were using Angel DNA or that of Adam. We didn't think to use Lillith, but I wonder why you would choose such a weak specimen."

Gendo smiled arrogantly before speaking, "Weakness is not defined by the specimen we choose, but by the person. That is why all the other Angels before you died, just as you will."

Gendo lifted up his gun and fired more shots towards Armiseal. She quickly moved out of the way and threw Ayanami into the path of one of the bullets. Rei felt the bullet graze past her arm as she fell to the floor. Armiseal took this chance to flee towards the upper level.

Gendo ran over to Rei and knelt down beside her as she tried to get up. He helped her to her feet as she screamed out in pain.

"You...You came for me..."

"Yes I did, I'm sorry it took so long Rei."

She knelt up, "I am glad...has Sohryu been located yet?"

"I don't know, we need to get you out of here."

She looked into his eyes before shaking her head, "No, I need to stop the Angel."

Gendo looked up at the upper levels, Armiseal had moved into one of the control rooms. He couldn't send any of the people with him up there, it would mean certain death and if he left without killing the Angel then Keel would destroy any hope of them ever being able to fight back. Much to his reluctance he had to let Rei do this.

He nodded, "Fine I..."

He trailed off, unsure of what to say. Rei stood up and turned to him smiling, "Thank you."

She moved up the staircase towards Armiseal as she heard Gendo and the others make there way out of the room. She felt Armiseal send out another A.T. Field as she got to the top of the steel staircase, but she was ready this time. She expanded her own A.T. Field to try to counteract Armiseal's and felt herself get knocked back a bit.

Armiseal snarled back at her from inside the control room, "You're persistent."

She ran over to one of the consoles in the facility and began hastily typing commands into it. Rei dashed at her, tackling her to the ground just as sirens flared up around the base. Armiseal laughed and pinned Rei to the ground, "You see Rei, if I'm going to die I'm taking the daughter of Lillith with me."

Rei threw Armiseal off of her and fired several shots into the Angel's body. Armiseal staggered back, screaming out loudly as she began to glow and heal herself again. This time, however, the results were different. She continued glowing and moved towards Rei. She reached back, ready to hit Rei, but Rei barely managed to dodge out of the way.

Rei moved around and fired another shot at the Angel, again having no effect. It just seemed that after each shot Rei fired the Angel would just heal itself. Rei threw the gun down and instead opted to dive at Armiseal, sending them both crashing to the floor. Rei held Armiseal down pinning her by the shoulders.

"You can't win Rei, I know you better than you know yourself. Everything that happened to you the past four days, all those emotions you were feeling, who did you think was responsible for them?"

Rei didn't move, but instead kept Armiseal pinned down. However, as she was pinning her down she felt rage building up inside her, "You...are responsible for this?"

Armiseal laughed, "It was a gift Rei, something to give you what you always wanted, a chance to feel more human before you suffered the fate of all humans."

Rei looked on in shock at what she was hearing, this was just enough chance for Armiseal to gain some leverage and throw Rei off of her. "Of course Rei, it'll only be your soul that dies."

With those words Armiseal began to glow again, only this time it wasn't to heal her wounds. Instead the glow began to leave Armiseal's body and went straight towards Rei. She was unable to get out of the way and screamed out in pain as the creature latched onto her.

As soon as it did her entire life flashed before her, the first time she woke up after being created. Seeing Gendo Ikari for the first time, the man who she thought of as her father. Then fifteen years later meeting Shinji and Asuka and fighting alongside them against the Angels. She felt the Angel spread inside her as she screamed out in pain.

"_It's…it's taking over me."_

She looked up at the timer above the control panel. The structure was still rigged to be destroyed and she had to ensure the Angel went along with it. Even if that meant sacrificing herself. She made her way over towards the control panel, pain was shooting through her body as she felt the Angel inside her. It was almost as if it was ripping her apart.

She reached for the communications device, needing to send out a message to Gendo, to inform them what was happening. As she did so she noticed something hitting the monitors on the panel, she reached her hand up to her face and for some reason she smiled.

_'I...I am crying...but why?'_

**Helicopter**

The helicopter started up as Gendo and the others got on board. He turned around, looking out for her. She had said she would be here soon, so why wasn't she? He watched Kaji and Fuyutsuki getting Sohryu on board and secured as the chopper began to lift off. He turned and shouted towards the pilot.

"What are you doing? There's still one more."

Before the pilot could reply a crackling noise could be heard over the choppers main communications channel. Gendo listened closely to the words coming through on the device, they were Rei's words. She was speaking to him, to them all.

"_I...I am sorry but...I have to do this to help you all."_

There was a slight pause before she continued, _"This is what my purpose was, this is the reason I was born and I understand that... but I do not wish to leave even though I must."_

There was a pause on the device, Gendo was frozen in place as she started speaking again. _"Tell... Tell Shinji I am sorry I am unable to see him again."_

She paused again, _"Tell Sohryu that I am sorry for what I caused her during this...that I am sorry for following orders so blindly and that with this action I hope she can forgive me..."_

She paused again, it was clear that she was crying, _"Director...Father...I am sorry for leaving you... thank you for giving me life."_

_The sound cut off again as everyone in the helicopter was silent. Then it happened. Gendo lurched forward only to be held back by Kaji. Everyone watched in a stunned silence as the entire facility erupted in a ball of flame. Gendo screamed out Rei's name as he watched the only person he had ever felt close too besides his wife sacrifice herself right in front of his eyes._


	28. A Tout Le Monde

A/N: Sorry about the long wait with this one, I got about half way through and had to restart because of comp problems. I did make up for it by making it, in my opinion, a lot better then the original version so at least something good came out of it.

_5__th__ September 2015_

**'Who Needs Information?'**

My body felt heavy as I awoke, I say awoke, but it certainly didn't feel like I was waking up. My eyes could barely open, my body wouldn't move. Slowly I was able to open my eyes completely and I found myself staring up at a blank ceiling. My first guess was that I was in a hospital bed but as my eyes adjusted to the new light I could see that the ceiling I was looking at resembled that of a prison cell more than that of a hospital room. It was more of a dark, oppressive metallic colour. I looked to my side and saw the walls had been crudely painted a similar colour, however there were various indentations and markings mottled across the surface.

I tried once again to raise my hand to try to feel along the wall. It rose slightly but limply fell back to the bed I was lying on again. The feeling I had, it was almost like there was something pinning me down, I knew I could move, I had just proven that. I could feel my body, but it just felt like there was some external force holding me down.

I tried to raise my hand one more time but to no avail. It rose a few inches and then nothing. I would just have to wait, wait until this strange force left me or until someone entered my apocalyptic prison cell. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, whatever I was lying on certainly wasn't built for comfort not that there was anything I could do about it.

As I lay there I began to wonder just how I gotten there. I could remember certain things but they seemed so distant, some of the memories were there stronger than the others. I could remember the day, myself and Asuka were investigating the disappearance of Kawaoru Nagisa. I didn't really know the reasons why, but I knew of his importance as the head of Marduk so I could understand NERV getting involved.

With myself and Asuka being assigned the case though, naturally that meant it was important to SEELE or to my father. Once again we were just pawns in their battle. That was all I would ever really be I guess, a pawn, a device to be used and discarded at will. Someone finds a use for me and all is well, but once that use is gone I'm immediately discarded.

I remember being at Misato's though. She had called me and Asuka when we were on our way to NERV. I remember her telling me that she had seen that other agent who had been assigned to work with us, he had tried to attack her, to attack her baby. I remember going after him and finding out he had Asuka and then...

I can remember what happened then, I don't really want to though. I forced the memory away, it was too painful. I was fully realizing the severity of my situation, I had...I had let her down. I had made a promise to her and now...I had broken that promise. The image came into my mind again despite my attempts to force it away. As it replayed in my conscience I felt a familiar stinging sensation in the back of my eyes. The images replayed almost like they had happened only a few minutes ago, there he was holding her up. He reached his arm back and plunged a blade right through her body.

I blinked it away, I didn't want to relive this. I needed to get out of here, I needed to move or this was just going to get worse. I tried once again to raise my hand, some of the pressure I had felt earlier had eased but the majority was still there. I was able to raise it to a point and ran my hand along the wall feeling its cold steel surface.

Okay this is good, some movement. I focused on the other hand and moved. The pressure I felt on me before was definitely beginning to fade. I could actually move again, with each movement I felt some slight pain but I could actually move.

I shifted myself into a sitting position and looked around my cell, despite attempts not to, the thoughts of Asuka and all the others came back into my mind. Asuka, Ayanami, Misato, Kaji...even my father. Did they know where I was? Were any of them looking for me? Was Asuka even...

I felt a tear rolling down my cheek as I quickly brushed it away. There was no avoiding that thought though, I didn't even know if Asuka was alive. I can remember holding her in my arms after...after I killed Carter. I remember telling her that everything would be all right but I also remember the amount of blood she was losing. I remember where she had been stabbed. Anyone else stabbed in the same place would have died instantly. I suppose it was only because of the Evangelion serum flowing through her that she was able to survive as long as she did.

Another tear rolled down my face as I tried to get rid of the thought, get rid of the feeling that I had failed her. It felt so unfair that she might be dead and I was sat here feeling sorry for myself. She was a strong person, she was stronger than me she was a better person. I shouldn't be the one here, what did I have to offer the world? I was nothing more than a gear in a bigger machine...

I guess this was my punishment. This was what I deserved; to be here alone. This might be for the best, anyone that comes into contact with me either ends up getting hurt or abandoning me. The two people I allowed myself to love are either dead or in danger. Maybe I should have just left when I had the chance, it would have been easier for them.

I wiped my eyes again just as I heard the door to my cell open, I didn't look up at the person who entered. I didn't even care who it was, all I cared about was Asuka or Misato. I needed to know...I needed to find out how they were and I needed to apologize to them for being such a fuck up. If it wasn't for me...maybe they wouldn't have had to put up with all of this.

"Shinji Ikari..."

I didn't speak, I just simply nodded. I still didn't look up at the person who had entered. There was a strange familiarity to his voice though. It was strange how hearing it...it seemed to ease me slightly.

"What you are about to hear Shinji might be a bit of a shock and I'll understand if your reaction is not...favourable.

I looked up at him wondering what he was talking about. As soon as my eyes made contact with his I had to stop my mouth from opening in shock. I was sure he could have seen it though, from the way my eyes widened. I didn't really know what to think or say, I wondered if maybe this was some sort of sick joke or maybe I was in some bizarre dream. Standing in front of me, was the person me and Asuka had been sent to find, the man who was the head of one of the worlds largest organisations... Kaworou Nagisa.

"I am Kaworou Nagisa, the same Kaworou Nagisa you and your partner were charged with finding a few days ago..."

I still couldn't speak, I had nothing I wanted to say. I waited for him to speak and instead just stared down at the floor.

"I am sure you will have a lot of questions regarding your situation and I will do my best to answer them. I want you to know that I will be offering the truth to you, I do not intend to sell you a series of half truths like Keel, or use you like your father."

He knew about Keel and my father? He knew who I was...what was I supposed to do?

"I will not be able to explain everything immediately as I am needed elsewhere. Unfortunately much like you Shinji Ikari I have been a passenger on this train of manipulation and mind games for a long time, however, unlike you, I do not have a choice in what I do. That is why I have brought you here, that is why I am offering you the truth."

I still didn't really know what to say. There was one thing, but I was sure he didn't know and besides...what if it wasn't the answer I wanted. Maybe I was being selfish but...while I didn't know the answer there was still hope but if I did know the answer...if there was confirmation that she was gone...then...how would I ever live with myself?

I instead settled for something a bit more basic, I know it was maybe a bit pathetic and cowardly of me but...that was who I was.

"Where am I?"

Kaworou smiled, "You are...you're not on Earth any more. You are currently inside a...well...I guess it's a prison ship. It is used to transport people who have been abducted, or at least it was...the ship was loaned to Marduk by SEELE for our own personal use. Many experiments are done up here, ones that...ones that I'm not really proud of but were forced to do by SEELE."

The smile soon changed to a look I recognised, I decided not to pry much further but he had mentioned SEELE so I had to know more, "So...do you work for SEELE?"

He nodded, "I do. It is a complicated story but suffice to say I was selected by SEELE to run the Marduk Institute and prepare Earth for the new impact. My purpose will soon be fulfilled. _That _is why you are here. We were destined to meet Shinji Ikari...and soon you will have to make a difficult choice."

My destiny? My purpose…I already knew my so called purpose; it was to be a puppet, to go from one new owner to another. I didn't have choices, I didn't have a say, no matter how much I tried. Everything I did was just for someone else's gain or amusement. Even if I did have a choice how would I know what was right? I'd just end up hurting someone either way...why couldn't I just leave it all behind?

"I see."

I didn't have anything else to say past that, I just thought about what he had said and stared down at the floor. I desperately wanted to ask about her but I just couldn't, then he said something. It was almost as if he was looking into my mind before he said it.

"Shinji, she is alive you know...you saved her just in time. Thanks to you she survived..."

With those words he left the room leaving me to think for a few more moments. He must have meant Asuka...who else could he have meant? I felt more tears rolling down my face but I wasn't really sure why. Surely I should be happy after hearing that...and I was happy, I was ecstatic. She was still alive, she wasn't dead after all but something still hung over me, maybe it was the realization that I'd never see her again. I whispered quietly to myself a few simple words, she wouldn't have heard them but I knew she'd want to hear them.

_I promise Asuka...that I'll return to you._

_10__th__ September 2015_

**Red Sector 'A'**

Five days I think, yeah that must have been right, I had been here five days. I didn't have a clock or anything to keep track of time but I was sure it had been five days. The rate in which they gave me food and my sleeping patterns seemed to indicate that. Then again it wasn't like I had been doing much eating or sleeping in that time. I couldn't eat, every time I tried I just felt so damn sick and I don't even know why. Logically I shouldn't be feeling guilty, right? Asuka was safe, Misato was safe and it wasn't my fault I was here so why did I feel guilty?

Sleeping, well that was just the same. Each time I closed my eyes I just saw Carter trying to kill Asuka, how he brought that blade back and stabbed it straight through her body. How she screamed out and fell to the floor, how I saw the blood leaking from her body. Yet she was safe, she was all right and I had rescued her. Of course I guess if it wasn't for me she wouldn't have been in that position anyway.

There was one final thing playing on my mind though relating to when I was taken, it was the moment I was taken. There was this huge bright light I saw, obviously the search light of the craft which took me but I saw something inside the light. Something which I had seen before, a few months ago. A person, a woman who looked like Rei Ayanami only...she was older and didn't share the same pale blue hair as Ayanami. I didn't know this woman yet there was something strangely familiar about her, almost as if she was connected to me.

It's possible that because she looked like Ayanami, this is the reason I felt that connection, I had always felt a connection with Ayanami. I had always wanted to...I don't know, protect her? I don't know if that sounds strange considering Ayanami was certainly more than capable of taking care of herself, and besides, with what has happened, why would I want to protect her? However it's always been there, it's such a strong connection, it's not like the connection I feel with Asuka but this is more something you'd associate with...I don't know the way a brother wants to protect his sister?

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what I had just thought, maybe I was beginning to go insane thinking about this. Maybe I wasn't actually here, maybe I had finally snapped and was just living an illusion. My mind was here but my physical body was locked up in some institution or I was simply comatose somewhere. It certainly seemed possible, I mean look at the facts. I was supposedly on some prison ship floating around somewhere away from Earth. I was on board with the very person I was supposed to find and then he offers me the truth?

So there I sat in Red Sector A waiting patiently like a dog would wait for a master. I had either gone insane or maybe I really was that pathetic. Why did I even think Nagisa was going to return? It was probably just something he said to stop me trying to escape but there was something about the way he said it that made me think otherwise. Something that made me think that he was being truthful and that this time I would get what I wanted.

I sat up as I heard the familiar sound of the door to my room opening, I guess that meant it was time for food again. I looked up and was surprised to see it was not that but instead it was Nagisa, he closed the door behind in and stood facing me.

"Hello again, Shinji."

"Hi" My response was pretty feeble but how else was I really going to respond?

"I apologize for keeping you waiting so long, I had other business to attend to regarding the Institute. Unfortunately this kept me from explaining things to you."

"I see."

"Now Shinji I want to tell you why you're here first. I guess seeing as I promised you the truth I should tell you that truth. The truth is that you were becoming a risk to SEELE...or maybe I should say, a risk to Keel. The committee did not care so much as long as you were doing the work they needed. However as you might have guessed, Keel is not on the same page as they are. You were becoming a risk so he wanted you dead."

So my suspicions were correct, Keel had his own agenda and wanted me dead because I was a threat. So my only question is why would Nagisa want to keep me alive? If he worked for SEELE surely it wouldn't matter to him either way.

"The reason why you're here and still alive is because you have a destiny to fulfil."

Once again he was talking about my so called destiny, was this just a way of him saying 'do what I say'? Or did he mean something else. I didn't get a chance to question him before he began speaking again.

"Humanity has such a bright future ahead of it Shinji, Keel may think he's making the right choice, SEELE might think they are but...I think they're wrong. I think that doing this will only stop humanity from growing to its true potential. Look at what Marduk achieved in fifteen years, look at yourself and Asuka."

I didn't quite understand. I imagine he was talking about the Evangelion serum but I certainly didn't feel like I was proof of any human potential. Why should I? I hadn't helped anyone with my so called power, all I was was just a tool for other peoples gain. That isn't proof of potential that's just proof of being pathetic.

"The Evangelion serum could be much more than what it was used for on you and Asuka. Your mother and Asuka's mother never intended it to be used as a weapon, they thought they were using it to better humanity."

I thought about his words for a moment but then something else entered my mind regarding Marduk. The vaccine they were working on...what was that? It was supposed to be released around the time SEELE put their plan into place. I had to question it, "The Evangelion serum...and the vaccine Marduk is working on...are they...related?"

Kaworou smiled and nodded, "It was supposed to be a method of control for those injected with it. A sub race of human super soldiers but completely under the control of SEELE and the aliens SEELE work with. They would prepare those not affected for a process called harvesting, turning humans into mindless slaves."

So...they were going to essentially mass produce people like me and Asuka, only they wouldn't have a will of their own. They'd be puppets, mindless slaves. I had to stop this but how could I? I mean I was pretty much a puppet myself. How did I even know that what Kaworou was telling me was true?

"There is an island complex Marduk has, I know this is not what you really want to hear but in a few weeks Asuka will be taken there after a failed attempt at getting into the Marduk Institute headquarters in Tokyo 3. Your father will be sending both Ayanami and her there in an attempt to gather information on Marduk and yourself."

My father...he was going to be sending them to find out information on me? Did that mean that he wanted to find me? Or was it something else? What worried me though was that he said Asuka was going to be taken.

"Why will Asuka be taken?"

"Keel is paranoid, he wants to take out the remaining Angels and at the same time remove the Evangelions. You have been taken away, Asuka will be next. She will not be killed but the process will be unpleasant."

"Then why can't you stop it?"

"I wish I could Shinji but unfortunately it must happen otherwise she will be killed."

"Then why not just send me down to stop it?"

He shook his head, "I cannot do that."

I couldn't believe it, I had been brought there to help him stop Keel and his cronies, yet from the sounds of it Nagisa was just going to let them do what they wanted.

"So what? Am I supposed to sit here and watch?"

"I am sorry Shinji, but I cannot do anything. It must happen for both her and your own sakes."

I sighed and sank back realizing that there was nothing I could do. So what was the point of arguing about it? It was just...it seemed like Asuka had been through so much in the past few weeks, why should I sit by while she goes through more. She had been there for me yet I couldn't be there for her, it just made me feel more useless than I already did.

"When Asuka is taken I will transmit the location of the island anonymously to your father and Rei Ayanami. I will also send them a gift in the form of a small platform off the coast. It is my own private platform, no one else knows about it. I will ensure Asuka does not endure more suffering than she needs to."

Was that supposed to make me feel better? Okay so I knew she was going to be safe, then what? She would be in the company of my father? How was that going to make me feel any better? My father was just as bad as SEELE.

"Why my father?"

"Because your father wants the same thing you do Shinji."

_30__th__ September 2015_

**'The Answer Lies Within'**

I was woken up by the sound of my room's door opening, I looked around and saw two figures enter the room. It was still dark so I couldn't see them properly, I closed my eyes again and feigned sleep. I really couldn't be bothered to talk to anyone, I was still tired and it wasn't even part of the crafts day cycle yet. Besides I just assumed that it was probably just Nagisa again.

I had assumed wrong, I could feel them standing over me and maybe then I should have done something. If two big figures stand over your bed after creeping into your room, you react right? It would seem the part of my brain which broadcasts good old fashioned Vulcan logic wasn't functioning at that moment. Instead I kept my eyes closed and ignored them, maybe if I ignored them they'd go away.

Once again I was wrong, I had another chance to react when one of them placed their hands on me. I did react, my eyes shot open and I sat up. Too late though one of them injected me with something, and I felt my eyes grow heavy as I fell asleep again.

I don't know how long I was out for, I could guess at only a couple of hours but when I did wake up it felt sort of like my body was floating. I opened my eyes again and found myself stood in a small circle of light. Beyond that stretched an eternal darkness going on forever and ever. I looked around the small lit up area I was in and found nothing.

There was no one nearby, yet at the same time I could feel a strange presence near me. It was not so much near me but all around me. It was such an unusual feeling because it felt so familiar...almost like I had encountered it before. I took a few steps forward out into the darkness and stopped. The light I had been standing in had moved with me, that was unusual to say the least. It was like a stage spotlight except I was not on a stage.

I took a few more steps and in front of me could make out the shadowed form of something. I stepped forward to get a closer look and saw that it was a wooden chair with a cello mounted against it. My cello...but that was...it was destroyed ages ago...I reached out and touched the neck slightly. It was definitely there and this was definitely mine. Just to make sure I lifted it and looked around the back. If this was my cello then it should definitely be there, a small marking on the back with my initials.

I turned the cello around in my hand and as soon as my eyes made contact with the marking I felt a hot burning sensation in my head. I released my grip on the instrument and lifted my hands up to my head. As I did so I felt something, that presence, it was stronger then before. The sensation began to leave and I knelt and reached out for the instrument again. As soon as I touched it I screamed out in pain. Something was happening, I felt something enter my mind. It flashed by quickly but it was definitely there. I wasn't imagining it, it was like a voice or text being screamed at me.

_'Who are you?'_

I reached out for the instrument and once again the voice made its presence known.

_'Who are you?'_

I didn't really know what to do, did I answer this strange presence, this voice that had somehow entered my mind? Or did I do nothing? I settled with doing nothing and tried to pick up the instrument, immediately as I did so the voice screamed out again, more intense than anything more. A surge of pain ran up my body as it shouted out.

_'Who are you?'_

This time I answered back, "Shinji Ikari."

The voice questioned me again.

_'What is your purpose?'_

My purpose? What did it mean by my purpose? Did it mean my purpose being here, if so it was just as clueless as I was. If it meant...no it couldn't have meant that, I decided to go with that though.

"To defeat the Angels."

_'Why?'_

"Because they are my enemy."

_'Why?'_

"Because they want to destroy us."

_'Do they?'_

"Yes they do, that's why I need to defeat them."

_'Why?'_

"I don't understand, so I...so that we can survive."

_'Because they are your enemy?'_

"Yes because they are our enemy!"

_'Was Touji your enemy?'_

"No but that..."

_'Then why did he need to be killed?'_

"He didn't it was...that thing that took over him...it was the Angel and my father!"

_'Why are the Angels your enemy?'_

"Because they want to destroy us, they want to get rid of humanity!"

_'Don't SEELE want the same?'_

"Yes but...I need to defeat the Angels to stop SEELE."

_'But if you defeat the Angels then SEELE will succeed.'_

"I know that but...if I..."

_'Why are the Angels your enemy?'_

"Because they attacked us!"

_'Did you try to understand why?'_

"Of course I did but no one told me!"

_'So you just did what other people told you?'_

"Yes! What else was I supposed to do?"

_'You did what your father wanted you to do.'_

"I didn't even know he was involved until later on, by then it was too late anyway!"

_'Was it too late?'_

"Yes!"

I was done, I was shouting at and speaking with a presence in my mind. One that was questioning my moves. Questioning what I was doing. It's words and questions were running through my mind. Why was I fighting? Was it because the Angels were our enemies? The only reason I know that was because of what I had been told by my father and SEELE. They had lied to me before, who's to say they weren't lying about the Angels. Maybe I was wrong by killing the Angels...but they had attacked us, they had caused death and destruction, how could I have just let that go?

"Pathetic..."

I turned around at the sound of the other voice, and stepped back in shock. It was Asuka...she was glaring at me, staring a hole right through me. I looked at her, she looked as if she hadn't slept for about a week and her body...her shirt I could still see the blood stain from where Carter had stabbed her weeks ago.

"You know why you're fighting Shinji...only you know the reasons..."

Only I know the reasons...but I didn't...I didn't know why I was fighting. Was it really what I thought I was fighting for? To stop SEELE, to save humanity?

"You know those aren't the reasons, stop being a coward and admit it to yourself!"

"I...I don't know..."

I said the words weakly, I was lying, the more I thought of it the more I did know. I wasn't fighting to save humanity, I was fighting for acceptance. Acceptance from the people around me, my purpose was to defeat the Angels...without that what was I?

"Nothing..."

The figure of Asuka standing in front of me answered the question for me and she was right. I was nothing without that. Without the Evangelion serum flowing through me, without the purpose of defeating the Angels I was nothing. I had nothing, I had no one. As much as I had convinced myself I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to be a puppet of my fathers...I did because it meant that in a strange way I was near to him.

"Yet you hate your father."

The figure of Asuka had disappeared and her voice was replaced by another familiar voice. I looked up and saw Ayanami standing in front of me.

"Why do you hate him?"

I shouted back at her, "Because of what he has done to me, because it's his fault I'm like this! He abandoned me when my mother died! He didn't care about me he just went off to do his own thing, to plan humanities downfall and then twenty years later he only makes himself known because he has a fucking use for me! Why shouldn't I hate him?"

"Because of his motives."

"His motives? His motives! Using me, using Asuka, using you as puppets for his own gain. Why shouldn't I hate him for those motives? He just wants what's best for him."

"Because he wants the same thing you do Shinji."

The figure of Rei in front of me had vanished yet...yet her voice remained. Only it wasn't her voice...it definitely sounded like her only slightly older. I turned and saw another woman in front of me. The same woman I had seen when I was taken, the one who looked like Rei only...with brown hair and older. The woman I found so familiar yet...yet I had never seen her before.

Next to her was a pushchair with a baby inside, I stepped forward and looked down at the baby. It was sleeping. The mother looked at me with a smile on her face and spoke softly.

"Do you really hate him Shinji?"

This woman...she knew my name and was also questioning me about my father. I nodded.

"Yes I do, because of what he did."

"Do you know why he did that?"

"Of course I don't, he never explained it to me, he never spoke to me. Even now he hasn't told me. He just hides behind his desk and does SEELE's work for them."

I didn't know why I was telling this woman all this, why did she even care? I didn't know her and she probably didn't know me.

"Your father was always a difficult man...he was dedicated to his cause but he was never one to open up to people. He would always try to get rid of his problems by ignoring them or locking them away."

Was that supposed to make me feel any better? That I was nothing more than a problem he could lock away?

"So I was just a problem then? I bet he couldn't wait until my mother died just so he could get rid of me then."

The sound of me getting slapped by the woman echoed through the darkness. I brought my hand up to my head and felt where I had been slapped and saw her glaring at me. She didn't say anything though instead she just looked at me and then...she embraced me. She stood there and actually pulled me towards her and held me. She whispered softly into my ear.

"Your father is not a bad man Shinji...remember that he wants the same thing as you and I do, even if it means distancing himself from you. Even if it meant distancing himself from me."

'Distancing himself from me.'...those words echoed around my mind as she held me. I leaned back and looked up at her face. Her eyes...her hair...it was beginning to come back to me...I realized where I had seen her before.

Tears stung the back of my eyes as the realization was finally hitting me, I looked at the child and then to the woman and whispered to her, "Mother..."

_10__th__ October 2015_

**'The Moment Of Clarity'**

It had been about ten days since I had seen her, since I had seen my mother. When I had awoke from that strange dream I was back in my own room. I could remember everything about it though, from the moment those people had injected me and then seeing her. Since then I had felt a strange sense of calm, almost as if I was beginning to understand things. If it wasn't real and it certainly felt like it was then at least...at least I had something to hold on to.

Her words about my father were still echoing through me, I was trying to understand him, trying to understand why he would do what he did. It had been Kaworou who first told me that my father wanted the same thing I did. I hadn't really thought of it then, I didn't really want to think of anything then. Then I had been told it again and it was beginning to fall into place, I didn't have all of the answers but I was beginning to understand.

My father didn't want SEELE to succeed, he wanted to help humanity. That was what they meant. I just hadn't tried to understand it, I had been so blinded by wanting to hate him that I hadn't tried, but even with that knowledge, the feelings I had for him still remained. Why shouldn't I hate him? Was it all right for me to hate him even though he wanted the same as I? After all I had been through it was understandable.

I wondered when I would see Kaworou next, there was still so much I wanted to ask him. I had so many questions about my father, about SEELE about what I could do next. I guessed I had been here for about a month, maybe a bit more by now. In that time I had only seen Kaworou twice, both times he had explained bits and pieces but not as much as I had really liked. I guess that might have been my fault though. Those times I was so wrapped up in my own self pity I didn't really ask about anything that didn't concern me.

Now I had a clearer idea, I knew now that my father wanted to take down SEELE. I might not have liked him but I wouldn't sit back and let SEELE succeed. I wanted to know how I could help, if there was anything I could do. I felt useless sitting here doing nothing. Playing on my mind too was Kaworou's earlier words, that Asuka will soon be taken to the island facility Marduk has. He had reassured me that it had to happen, that it needed to happen but I still wasn't sure.

I decided to sit and wait, wait until Kaworou returned to find out what I could do. I know it sounds weird, I barely knew the guy but I trusted him.

_3__rd__ November 2015_

**'Knocking On Heavens Door'**

The month I had been here had soon turned to two months. The past month had been uneventful, no word from Nagisa, no more strange events and nothing happening to me. I began to wonder if maybe anything else was going to happen. I was by now longing for some news, anything from Nagisa about Asuka or Misato or the rest of them. I had probably missed so much.

The possibility that all of this was just some other elaborate scheme had crossed over into my mind, that this was all just something to stop me from questioning anything. If that was the case though surely I would have been fed more information regularly and besides...I trusted Kaworou. I still couldn't explain why but the way he spoke to me, the way he told me things and the events that had happened here. I knew that he spoke the truth and that he wanted to help.

The door to my room suddenly opened and Nagisa stepped in accompanied by two mask wearing guards. I looked up in surprise, this was not how he had entered previously and the rifles the two guards were carrying certainly made me think this was not a friendly visit.

Nagisa spoke, his voice not full of the usual cheer but instead was more solemn.

"Shinji, I would like you to come with me. There is something that needs to be done."

I didn't move instead I just looked at him, I then smiled and stood up. I didn't really know why I smiled I guess it was just one of those reactions. Despite this I still trusted Nagisa, I wasn't sure why, maybe it was because of the solemn look and the two guards with rifles next to him. He certainly didn't look like he wanted to do this.

I complied with the request and followed him out of the door and through the corridors of the craft. After a few minutes of following him we entered a circular room, there were several panels and machines set up along with several screens at the front leading me to believe it was some sort of command centre.

I looked up and stopped when I saw who was there. Keel...and standing next to him was my father. My father was staring down at me, behind his glasses I could feel his eyes boring a hole in me. Next to him Keel was smiling down at me and Nagisa. Nagisa spoke up to him.

"I have done as you asked Keel."

"Excellent, it's been a long time Shinji."

I didn't reply, he didn't deserve a response from me and besides I didn't have anything to say to the bastard.

"No response, well that's okay, I understand. There is something I need from you though, Shinji. You see while you were away your colleagues have been busy and now there is only one Angel left. The person standing in front of you. The person who brought you here, Kaworou Nagisa."

I looked at Nagisa, he didn't make eye contact instead he just stood with his head hung. I felt betrayed in a way, Kaworou was an angel? That couldn't be possible, the Angels were our enemies weren't they? So how could he be an angel?

"So Shinji there is one thing that needs to be done and I'm sure you know what it is. After that you can walk free, kill Kawoaru Nagisa."

I looked up at Nagisa and then at Keel. Both of them were looking at me waiting for a response but how could I give one? This was madness. Kaworou couldn't have been an Angel, it just wasn't possible. How could it be Kaworou...? I had trusted him, he was my friend and this...he wouldn't betray me like this. I shouted back at Keel.

"No."

"Just as I expected, maybe this will prove to be an incentive then."

One of the screens flickered into life as Nagisa stepped across to me and spoke. His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Shinji...this is...this is the decision I mentioned to you when you first came here."

I turned to him and spoke, "I don't care, I'm not going to do it."

"You have to Shinji, the future of your species relies on it. I can't be allowed to live, don't you understand that!"

I did understand that but I couldn't do it, I wouldn't kill a friend again. I wouldn't let my hands murder someone because I had been told to. I responded back harshly."

"Then kill yourself then!"

"I can't Shinji, don't you understand? It has to be you."

I ignored him, trying not to show my emotions, the screen finally flickered into life. The image of a warehouse came on and inside was a man walking around. A man I soon recognised as one Ryoji Kaji, I turned and looked up at Keel who was smiling proudly.

What happened next...I don't want to describe. It happened so quickly and so easily, it was just...it wasn't supposed to happen like that, was it? There should have been a pause, or another chance for me to stop it but there wasn't. The gun shots inside the warehouse echoed from the screen in the command centre and all I could do was watch as Kaji's body fell to the floor.

That was it, he was gone so easily and for no reason. I felt sick to my stomach as the realization hit me...that was my fault. I could have prevented it but I didn't. Keel's words only echoed that fact.

"You could have prevented it Shinji and now thanks to you, Misato's child will grow up fatherless. All because you fail to see the bigger picture."

The bastard, the bigger picture? What bigger picture was there, killing innocents just for his gain? I felt a gun being placed into my hand as I looked up at Keel and then at Kaworou again. The guards around the room quickly aimed their own rifles at me so I didn't make any moves and aim for Keel. He spoke again before I had a chance to do anything.

"Now Shinji, imagine if anything like that should happen to Misato, or to Agent Sohryu...I can easily arrange it you know."

I didn't know what to do, did I really kill Kaworou, would I even be able to do that? Kaworou was still standing closely to me, he spoke again.

"Please Shinji, you have to do this. For the future of your race, if you don't...they all die. At least with this...you still have a chance. From here on it's between you and SEELE you have to understand that. You can still save them, but you need to do this."

"Kaworou...I...I don't...I can't."

He stepped closer and grabbed hold of my hand, aiming the gun near his heart and smiled.

"You have to do this."

I shook my head and tried to pull my hand away only for him to hold it in place.

"No I...I can't."

Above us Keel shouted again, "What's the hold up Ikari, come on I'm a busy man. Asuka won't have much time left at this rate."

I looked straight into Kaworou's eyes and smiled, "Kaworou...I'm so sorry."

"As am I Shinji Ikari..."

With those words I felt my hand tighten around the trigger and then...then he was gone and I had fired the shot. For that moment there was only silence as Keel and his men left the command centre leaving only me, my father and Kaworou's lifeless body. My mouth suddenly went dry and tears began to fall from my eyes as I looked at the body in front of me. I had done it...I had killed an innocent person again.

Next to me I heard my fathers voice, it seemed so distant though, "I'm sorry Shinji."

_4__th__ November 2015_

**'A Tout Le Monde'**

**Asuka's Residence – 1330 hours**

Asuka looked directly are herself in the mirror, her hands trembling slightly as she saw the reflection and spoke quietly.

"I have nothing left...Shinji's gone...NERV's gone...I can't sleep...I can't eat...I can't do anything any more..."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt the blade dig into her. This was the end for her, she had nothing left, everything had gone. She had failed to protect those she was meant to, she had failed to stop SEELE. All those around her had left, her friends, her colleagues...even Rei was now dead.

"I have nothing...I am no one...I don't deserve to be here any more."

She looked down at the blood trickling from her and lay down on the floor waiting for her release. As she looked on she saw a figure enter her view, she smiled and spoke again.

"I...I'm sorry Shinji."


	29. Air

_All are gone, all but one.  
No contest, nowhere to run.  
No more left, only one.  
This is it, this is the countdown to extinction. _

_**Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction**_

_6__th__ November 2015_

**Resistance Base – 1430 hours**

Shinji opened his eyes. He looked out across the camp his father was taking him too. His first thoughts were that it wasn't much, there were a few tents set up and a small crowd of about thirty gathered together there waiting for them. A few of them he had seen in NERV a few times but most of the people were unfamiliar to him. There seemed to be a mix of people, though many of them appeared to be scientists, a small group looked like ex military and there were, of course, the few people he recognized from NERV.

He suddenly realized that he didn't want to be here, that he wanted to get out of the car they were in and just leave. All of them were looking at him like he was some sort of hero or saviour. He wasn't either of them, it was because of him that they had been forced into this place. He had killed all the Angels and allowed SEELE to carry out their invasion. How could they see him like this? He was a coward. He didn't have the right to be seen as anything else but that.

He turned and looked in the back of the car at Asuka, another victim of his. The nightmarish image of what she had done was still fresh in his mind. It had made him violently sick when he had seen it because he knew it was his fault. If he had been there, if he had got to her earlier it wouldn't have happened. He could still see every detail, her lifeless eyes, the way she pushed the blade into herself, the way she fell to the floor and then the way she looked up at him smiling and then apologizing.

He looked out among the crowd to see if he could spot anyone he knew. It came as some sort of a relief that Misato was not yet there to see him. When he was able to force the image of Asuka from his mind it was quickly replaced by that of Kaji being shot. Something else he could have prevented, something else that was his fault. Shinji felt like it may as well have been him who pulled the trigger. He didn't even know if Misato knew about it yet but even if she didn't know how could he face her knowing that? How could he tell her about it? She had loved Kaji, he was the father to her unborn child and because of Shinji's reluctance to act she had lost him.

The feeling inside him that he did not want to be there was growing stronger by the second. Right now he just wanted to get Asuka into whatever medical facility they had here and then leave. Or just go somewhere and wait for whatever it was that was in store for him. He couldn't help anyone, every time he tried he just ended up hurting them even more. He was beginning to feel like it would be better if he just wasn't here at all.

He stepped out of the vehicle and moved round to the back. He opened the door and began to lift Asuka out of the car. As he did so several people moved forward but were soon stopped by Gendo. He signalled to two of the people as Shinji looked around the crowd again. The people he signalled towards stepped forward as Gendo spoke to them.

"Take Sohryu to the medical facility we have here, keep her sedated for now but be ready to wake her up in a few days."

They nodded and moved towards Shinji. He could only watch as they took Asuka away and moved her towards one of the other buildings. Shinji turned and looked straight at his father and wondered what would happen next. Finally one of the men stepped forward, one of the ex-military looking people. He addressed both Gendo and Shinji.

"We lost Tokyo 3, we pulled out anyone we could from there but it was only a small gain, I'm afraid."

Gendo nodded, "It's alright. We didn't expect to keep Tokyo 3 anyway. At least we were able to recover some people. We must prepare our next move though, all of the Angels have now been defeated so SEELE will therefore be able to move with a greater force. "

"Understood. We were able to recover the layout for the GEHIRN Laboratories though. Hopefully this should prove useful."

GEHIRN...a name Shinji had not heard in a while. It was the name of the organization his mother had worked for. The organization which was responsible for the Angels and ultimately for the Evangelion serum. He had thought though, that GEHIRN stopped functioning after the Impact and all it's duties had been handed over to Marduk.

"Good work." Gendo then turned his attention to Shinji, "Shinji, please come with me. We have something to discuss."

Shinji nodded at his father's words and followed him into another small building. Most likely the command centre of the camp. There was a large circular table in the centre with a few seats around it. Scattered over the table were various maps and diagrams of the surrounding area.

"Sohryu should wake up in a few days, I will have someone show you to where she is so you may visit her when you wish. I will also have someone assign you your own quarters too."

"I see, so what happens now?"

Shinji wasn't really sure why he chose this of all questions to ask his father. In reality Shinji didn't want any part of what happened next. He just wanted to stay away from it all, to stay away and not hurt anyone any more.

"Now you have a choice Shinji. There is an old GEHIRN Laboratory near here, it's where your mother and Sohryu's mother used to work. It is the birth place of some of the Angels and where the Evangelion serum began its life. There are some documents hidden in there by us some time ago, for this exact moment. These are Documents regarding the Aliens genetic make up and prototypes for a virus to be used against them."

Gendo paused for a moment before continuing, "In an ideal situation I would have liked to send you with Sohryu and Rei as back up. However this is far from ideal. Rei is gone, Sohryu is in no condition for it and I'm sure you are having doubts yourself. NERV does not exist anymore, it has been destroyed. I am no longer the Director, I cannot command you to do this. I cannot assign this task to you. All I can do is _ask_ for you to do this."

Shinji felt strange, his father had actually come before him and _asked_ him for this. He had actually been given a choice, but for him it didn't really feel like a choice. If he said no? Then what? He would just go and wait to die, he would let down everyone else. Even though everything inside him was telling him that he would just end up hurting everyone and not be of any use to them...he wanted to help.

"I...will go there, but..."

He trailed off as someone else entered the command centre. Shinji went numb at the sight of her and, almost immediately, the memory of what had happened to Kaji returned to him. This was one of the moments he had not been looking forward to.

"Misato...I...I'm sorry."

She rushed forward to embrace him and stroked his hair gently. She was in shock that he was here, she had known he was still alive, she had known that he had returned but still seeing him there and in person was so different.

She heard him apologizing again, "Misato...I...he died because of me..."

She quickly moved to reassure him, "Shinji...It wasn't your fault he...he knew what he was getting into."

Shinji moved out of the embrace and looked at her, she looked so happy, so relieved to see him. He felt sick with guilt, how could she be happy to see him. After what he had done, he didn't deserve this. He spoke again, "Misato...I...I have to go, okay."

With those words he quickly left the building leaving a confused and upset Misato behind.

_10__th__ November 2015_

**Hospital Room – 1100 hours**

"I need help Asuka...you're the only person who can help me."

He paused and sighed to himself before speaking again, his voice was quiet and weak. He could feel tears burning his eyes as he looked down at her and spoke. "I know this sounds stupid because you probably can't even hear me but I need you Asuka. I need you to wake up, to call me an idiot, to set me right."

He buried his head in his hands and broke down. "You're the only person who can do that. Please... just wake up..."

Shinji lifted his head and stared at her sleeping face and gently stroked her cheek. This was the first time he had seen her since arriving here. It had taken him this long just to build up the courage to leave his quarters and come here. He had been told that she might be waking up soon, he wanted to be there when she did. He wanted her to help him, it was probably selfish on his part but she was the only person he could turn too.

"You're the only person Asuka, the others...I can't face them."

He paused as he thought about what he was saying, his first thoughts were of Misato and how he had fled the other day.

"Misato scares me now, I can't face her after I let Kaji die...she said it wasn't my fault but it is my fault. I let him die, I could have prevented it just like I could have prevented Touji's death."

Another pause before he spoke again.

"Then there's my father, I can't face him either, not now...it's just too difficult. I hated him so much, I wanted to confront him and ask why he did what he did but I can't face him, I can't speak to him. I don't know what I'd do or say, all I can do is wait and do what he tells me. I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

He paused waiting, hoping for a response but there was nothing. He didn't know why he waited for a response, she wasn't awake, she couldn't hear his words. She was somewhere else, kept there by the sedatives that had been pumped into her system.

"I need you...I need to hear you tell me it isn't my fault. The others told me it wasn't but I can't believe them...I can only believe it when I hear you say it because I know you're the only one who treats me like I'm not a tool. Misato tries but she can't, she tries to mask it to not hurt me. I need to hear you saying it because then I know it'll be true..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Maybe I am being selfish though, I mean why should I expect you to help. It was my fault you were like this, I promised you I'd never leave you and then they took me. I never even attempted to escape...I was pathetic, I just sat there and waited because I had been promised something. So while I sat doing nothing again they took you, they tore you apart and I didn't even try to stop it. I was even told that you were going to be taken, I wanted to help but I didn't do anything. I just took their word for it that everything would be all right and now... because of me you're like this."

He paused again, he felt a burning behind his eyes but it soon subsided, he couldn't cry any more. He couldn't feel emotion any more, he had become numb to everything. The only thing he could feel was his own self pity.

"That's why I need you to wake up...I need you to tell me the truth, to tell me what is and isn't my fault. You're the only one who can help me, please Asuka...please wake up..."

Shinji placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly, "Please...wake up...don't leave me like this."

He shook her again and got nothing before giving up and turning towards the door, as he did so he heard Asuka whimpering slightly. He turned around in shock and looked at her, her eyes were open narrowly and looking at him. She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, "Shinji?"

He stood frozen to the spot looking at her, he didn't respond and Asuka didn't say anything else. For what seemed like an eternity he looked directly into her eyes. This had been what he wanted, he had wanted her to wake up, he had wanted her to speak again so he could tell her everything. So that she could help him. So why couldn't he say anything now?

Then it happened, he didn't know why he did it. It only reconfirmed in his mind that he was a coward. He turned away and went as quickly as he could from the hospital room leaving her behind. For so long he had wanted to be reunited with her, for so long he had wanted to speak with her, he had wanted her to wake up so she could help him and he had ran away from it.

The only thing he could think as he exited the room were the words, _'I'm fucked up.'_

_15__th__ November 2015_

**Shinji's Quarters – 2000 hours**

Asuka paused before entering the room. Her first thought was to just kick the door through and get to him that way but she decided against that course of action. It was a tempting idea though, at least it would have got his attention. She still didn't really know what she was going to say to him, just that she was angry with him. She was angry with him for running out on her when she woke up, because that was when she needed him the most.

Then she'd heard about how he had did the same to Misato a few days before that incident, how he ran away from her and avoided her since then, choosing to either visit Asuka or stay in his quarters. She sighed and knocked on the door lightly hoping that this wouldn't be difficult and that he would answer immediately. Unfortunately it was not going to be that easy and she had to knock again, this time slightly louder.

"Shinji it's me, open up, it's important."

She tried to sound as calm as possible, hoping that if he didn't know she was angry he'd open up and let her in and then...then she could let him know _exactly_ how she felt. It wasn't so much him running away that annoyed her, in a strange way she could understand that. It was that he was avoiding both her and Misato all because he was under the impression that if he was near them he'd hurt them. It was completely pathetic, did he just think that by removing himself that'd make everything all right? Did he not realize that they, that _she_ needed him? Did he not know or even care that it was because she wanted him there, to be there and hold her that caused her to break down and cry in front of Misato when he had ran away?

After receiving no response she reached into her pocket and pulled out the key she had been given by Gendo. She had really hoped it wouldn't have come to this, she felt like she was trespassing but it had to be done. She placed the key into the lock and stepped on through into his room, there he was sat in a chair facing away from the door. She could make out the top of his head and also the small headphone wires coming down from his ears.

"Shinji..."

No response from him, she switched the light on in the room and again no movement or a response from him. She moved across to the seat quickly, now slightly worried that he did not react to the light going on. The others hadn't mentioned the possibility that he could have tried to take his own life, it didn't seem like something Shinji would do. Still the possibility was there, she had...she didn't finish that line of thought choosing to focus on Shinji instead. She had pretty much disgusted herself by doing that and wanted to move away from it as soon as possible. She didn't even refer to her own actions any more, just calling it 'that incident'.

She moved around to the front of the chair Shinji was sitting in and noticed he was sleeping. She lightly shook him but it wasn't enough to wake him. Asuka then moved to the small music player sitting in Shinji's hand, she switched it on and promptly jacked the volume up to maximum. Shinji soon jolted awake and quickly threw his headphones to the floor and looked at Asuka.

"So, are you finally going to acknowledge me?"

He mumbled weakly, "Hello Asuka."

"Good. So you do still know my name, I was worried you might have forgotten who I was, or anyone else for that matter, what with the way you've been avoiding us all lately."

Shinji looked away from her towards the wall of his quarters, he didn't say anything either. This angered her, the fact that he couldn't even look at her or give her any form of an answer. She was tempted to grab hold of him and force him to look at her but didn't. Instead she questioned him further.

"So why have you been avoiding us Shinji?"

She received nothing so she asked him again, "Well Shinji, why have you been avoiding us? Why did you run from Misato when you arrived here? Why did you run from me when I woke up? Why have you locked yourself away in here to avoid us?"

He finally responded with a very weak sounding reply, "I haven't been avoiding you..."

"Bullshit, I'm not stupid Shinji. Misato told me what had happened, she told me about Kaji and how you were forced to kill Nagisa. She said how when she told you it wasn't your fault you decided to run from her and leave her there. Do you know how upset she was at that? She needed you Shinji, she's pregnant, the father to her child has been killed and you are so caught up in your self pitying world that you can't even face her."

"I…I don't deserve to..."

"And then there's me, I know about that too. I'm not hiding behind it any more Shinji, I waited for you. I fucking needed you to be there when you had been taken and I knew you would return but that didn't help me. I know what I did, and I did that to myself. I have you to thank yet again for saving my miserable fucking life and what happens? I wake up and you run away, you run away like a coward. You ran away because you feel guilty, you think that somehow it's your fault I ended up like that. You couldn't stand to see me knowing that, so instead of trying to take steps to help me, you ran away from it. You think that it's so I won't get hurt or that Misato or anyone else won't get hurt but really it's just so that you won't get hurt."

"That's not true, I do-"

"You do what? You do hurt other people or you do only care about yourself?"

"I-"

She cut him off before he could respond, "I'm fed up with the others walking on eggshells around you. They're being patient with you, Misato, Gendo, the others…they're being patient but I'm sick of being patient with you. You need to make a choice Shinji, you can either hide here and be that coward you think you are, you can hurt the people you already think you do by doing nothing. Or you can get up and do something to try to rectify this. I thought you wanted to get the truth, and help people, not to hide away and ignore them."

He leapt up from his seat and shouted back at her, "And what about you? You only joined NERV and worked with me to satisfy your own ego. You're just as bad as me, you claim you want to help people and that you wanted to expose this but it was only for your own pride and ego."

Asuka slapped him with as much force as she could, she immediately regretted it as pain shot up her own hand. She tried to hide it instead, focusing on shouting at Shinji, "How can you even say that, I waited for you Shinji. When no one else would, when every one else had given up hope I kept on searching. I risked my life to find you. Do think that was that was for my own ego?"

He didn't respond instead he backed down and sat in the seat again. "I might have joined NERV for those reasons, I might have kept working with you for those reasons, but I didn't start loving you because of my own ego."

She turned to leave the room but stopped at the doorway, "If you want to be a coward that's fine, you can stay here and wait to die but I'm not going to let that happen to me. I'm not going to wallow in my self pity or my bruised ego any longer. I'm going to do something about it. In a few days I'm going to be investigating the old GEHIRN Complex nearby and if you wish to join me then so be it. I'm giving you this option because I care about you. Until then...goodbye Shinji."

_20__th__ November 2015_

**GEHIRN Complex – 2230 hours**

Shinji stood waiting at the entrance, his eyes focused on the GEHIRN insignia on either side of the doors. This was where she...this was where his mother had worked. This was where the serum flowing through his veins had been partly created and where the Angels had been created. Lying beyond these doors could have been the truth about his mother that he had so desperately wanted. With that in mind though he still didn't want to enter, he didn't want to be here yet something had compelled him too. Asuka's words rang through his mind, _'I didn't start loving you because of my own ego._' Maybe that was the reason he was here.

He switched off his flash light and waited for her to return, eventually she rounded the corner and moved up to the entrance. There she stood in front of him and spoke, "I looked around. There doesn't seem to be another way in. No other doors, no windows, aside from blowing a hole in one of the walls the only way to get in seems to be through this door."

Shinji nodded, "I see."

Now that she had returned, his urge to leave had come back with twice as much force. There wasn't really an explanation for it, he felt embarrassed by how he had acted in front of her. He wanted to apologize but he couldn't speak to her beyond basic words. Shinji just wished he could do this alone or not be here at all. He heard her sigh with annoyance but she said nothing more to him, he was testing her patience and he knew it, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Asuka turned towards the door and pushed it slightly, as expected it didn't open. She then withdrew a small lock pick from her jacket pocket and inserted it into the small lock on the door. After a few short moments they were in the darkened complex and one step closer to finding whatever secrets it had to hide.

Silently they moved their flash lights around trying to get a better idea of what was there. They found they were in a reception area. There was of course nothing there now but dust and cobwebs, making it look like something from a horror movie. They took a few steps forward and paused after hearing their steps echoing through the hallway.

Asuka whispered to him, "Maybe we should move a bit more quietly, I know there isn't another way in but that doesn't mean SEELE aren't already here. We've been caught out before by them, I'm not being caught out a third time."

Shinji didn't reply he only nodded before beginning to move forwards quietly. Asuka followed him, somewhat angry that he was being so unresponsive. He had been like this since they had set off, it was as if he was scared to say anything to her or like he didn't even want to be here. Did he think she couldn't have handled it herself, or that he had an obligation to be here?

She said nothing and continued following him until they came to the end of the corridor. There was only one door leading to a staircase going down further into the complex. This was how the complex had been described to them, a corridor up top with three basement levels. The laboratories they were looking for were on the second basement level. Slowly, they moved down the staircase towards their destination. As they moved Asuka felt something strange near her, as if there was something or some _one_ nearby. She took a look around and saw nothing, but decided not to take any risks.

_'Probably side effects...they said that I'd feel something strange when they gave me another shot of the serum. But that doesn't mean SEELE aren't nearby anyway.'_

They moved onto the second basement level and stepped into another corridor. It was the same as the one above, darkened, abandoned and dusty. This one however, had more doors leading from it, hence more places to search. There wasn't _that _many, but the knowledge that most of these rooms would have been laboratories meant they would have to be thorough. What they had been looking for had been hidden, so that Keel or SEELE would not have been able to find it. Both of them moved into the first room they came across, it seemed like an old staff room.

Asuka commented on it as she walked around, "Seems they left some of the things here, the television and seating is here..."

Shinji barely muttered a response, this time Asuka didn't stop herself from commenting on him. "Shinji, why are you here?"

"To help you..."

"Is that the only reason? If so, then it's a poor one because you're not helping. You've barely said anything, you're just there. If you didn't want to be here then why did you come?"

Asuka was vaguely aware that her voice was raised but she didn't care any more. Shinji looked at her and tried to respond. After a while he did, his voice was also raised, "You asked me to come here, you said you wanted me here. What else was I supposed to do? So now I'm here and you're complaining."

A pause, as he gathered his breath.

"What am I supposed to do?" he screamed.

Asuka sighed, "No Shinji, I wanted you to want to be here. I wanted you to want to help. I didn't want you to feel like you were obligated or had to be here. I could have handled this by myself if you wanted to sit back there and do nothing. You're no use to me if you don't want to be here."

"So that's what this is about? How much use I am to you?"

"I didn't mean that, it's just..."

She stopped there before thinking about what she was going to say to him. If she said that would it help or make things worse? She had only found out about that after she had seen him a few days ago but it made her want him there even more.

"Look I know this is selfish of me but...the reason I wanted you here is because..."

She stopped again trying to figure out how to word this properly. She never mentioned something like this to people, she never admitted she needed some ones help before.

"My mother used to work in this complex just like yours did. It was around the time she died and I was sent back to Germany...I didn't want to face this alone..."

She moved towards him and buried her head into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him, trying to hide the fact that she was crying from him. Shinji didn't really know how to respond to that, he felt selfish. She had been right, he was only concerned about himself getting hurt and not about other people. He hadn't thought about anything else but how it had affected him.

"Asuka, I..."

He trailed off as she started to speak again, her voice breaking up occasionally as she tried not to break down…"I haven't told anyone about what they did to me Shinji, they made me see things I didn't want to see...they fucked me up...they raped my mind...all I could do was fall apart. I thought I could handle it but I couldn't...and you saw what I did..."

"I know Asuka, I..."

He trailed off again, unable to say anything. Anything he thought about saying just sounded stupid. He felt tears rolling down his own cheeks as they both stood there in silence holding each other. He lifted up his head and spoke this time knowing what he wanted to say, "We'll find what we're looking for Asuka and then...we'll beat SEELE"

She looked up at him and fixed her eyes directly at his. They stood in silence for a few moments longer before leaning in and kissing each other. They just stood there kissing like they were the only two people in the world, like they didn't care about anything else but each other. Eventually they broke the kiss and Asuka smiled at him, not looking away from his eyes.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

They looked around a bit more before Shinji responded, "We should find what we're looking for and get out back to the base. We don't know how safe this place is, SEELE could still send people."

"Right, lets get moving into the laboratories then. I'll take one then you take the other one. We'll meet outside if we find something."

He nodded as they both moved into their respective destinations. Asuka stepped into the laboratory and looked around. There was nothing here except for lab tables and empty cabinets, she began moving around the room trying to see if there was anything. She moved towards one of the cabinets and found it to be locked. She withdrew her lock pick again and placed it into he lock on the cabinet and opened it.

Inside was a small lab jacket, she took it out and looked at it. There was a strange sense of familiarity to it. She turned it over in her hands and knelt transfixed on the name tag...this was...her mothers. It had been left here, she studied the tag again just to make sure.

_'Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu'_

She opened it up and heard something clatter to the floor, it was a small case, a CD still inside it. She picked it up, there was something wrote on the top of it. As she read the writing she felt a sense of unease in her stomach.

_'To Asuka...'_

She didn't have any time to think about it as she heard the sound of gunfire from out in the corridor. Suddenly Shinji burst into the door carrying a similar CD Case in one hand and his hand gun in the other.

"Asuka…we need to go. SEELE found us."

She nodded and pocketed the CD she had found. She dropped the lab coat and withdrew her own gun and moved into the corridor following Shinji. Almost immediately they were ambushed by one of SEELE's agents. Asuka was ready for it and extended her A.T. Field sending the person flying backwards. She fired a shot into the person's chest, killing them instantly.

They stepped out into the stairwell only to find more agents of SEELE coming towards them. The Agents spotted them and fired shots at them. Asuka and Shinji quickly ducked back into the corridor narrowly avoiding the gunfire. Asuka pressed herself against the wall and fired back praying that she would hit one of them. She waited a few moments before hearing one of the people speaking.

"We have located Sohryu and Ikari and are attempting to bring them in now."

There was a pause before they spoke again.

"Okay understood, we will proceed as you wish."

That was her chance, Asuka spun around into the stairwell and aimed at where the voice was coming from. She held her breath as she walked up the darkened stairwell, Shinji following closely behind her. Eventually they got back up to where they had entered the complex. Not taking any chances they made their way down the corridor making sure to look all around them and stay as silent as possible.

A few moments later they were back outside the complex with no sign of anyone nearby, the outline of their own vehicle could be made out in the distance. Without thinking they quickly ran towards the vehicle and checked around before getting inside.

Asuka looked around before pulling away, "Too easy...what are they playing at?"

Shinji shook his head, "I don't know...we should get back as quickly as possible. I'm sure they'll want to know what happened here."

"Agreed lets-"

She was cut off as the complex they were just in erupted in a ball of flame. The two of them looked on as debris was sent flying everywhere. As they drove away the realization hit them, they could have been inside that. At any moment that could have happened but they were spared. Was it pure luck or something else?

_21__st__ November 2015_

**Asuka's Quarters**

Asuka sat at the desk holding the CD in her hand. She studied the handwriting on it. It was only two words but the handwriting was so similar to her own. If this was indeed from her mother, Asuka wondered what was on it. It had been hidden away for her to find, no doubt her mother expected something to happen, so she' hid it, but it was just by quirk of chance that Asuka had found it. The other question was why was it hidden, what had her mother put on it that she only wanted Asuka to see?

Carefully she extracted the CD from it's case and placed it into the computer. She waited for something to load up, eventually a folder popped up containing one video file. Asuka stared at the title for a few moments, the title almost seemed to confirm one thing. Her mother knew she was going to die...the file was named _'Final Message.'_

She opened the file and immediately a new screen popped up and began playing the video. Asuka recognized the location immediately, it was the laboratory she found the disc in. This was when the complex was still being used though, Asuka could see machines in the corners of the room and various lab instruments scattered around. The screen went in and out of focus for a few moments before settling on an image. A few moments later a red headed woman stepped into view of the camera and knelt in front of it.

She looked pale but was smiling, Asuka felt a mixture of sadness and fear as she began to recognize the woman.

"...Mother..."

Almost immediately after she whispered the word, Kyoko began speaking to the camera.

"_Hello Asuka..."_

She paused for a moment seemingly thinking of what to say, Asuka sat, her eyes transfixed on the image of her mother speaking to her. All she could remember of her mother was the memories of her in the hospital, everything else had been blocked from her mind. It was a sickening irony that the one memory Asuka wanted to block out of her mind she couldn't yet all the ones she wanted remained blocked.

"_Asuka...if you're watching this video then Gendo was right and my worst fear has been realized. Hopefully by this time you will have come to understand what happened here and you will understand the task that has been planned out for you. I'm not sure what stage you are at or if it even went to plan. For all I know the person watching this could be Keel himself but I have faith in you Asuka. I have faith that whatever happens you will be able to overcome it, you are a strong child, strong and beautiful and I know that as an adult you will continue to be just that..."_

Kyoko paused again as Asuka felt a lump in her throat, her eyes stinging as tears threatened. She blinked them away and continued watching as her mother spoke again.

"_I wish I was there to tell you why we did what we have done, myself, Yui, Naoko...we thought we were doing it for the betterment of mankind but then...when we learnt it wasn't we had to do something. Except I couldn't...I had you Asuka. Naoko and Yui they had fathers for their kids and they were in positions of power...they could get away with it...I wanted to but I just couldn't...I was scared. So I tried to get out, your father...he had left so I told Keel I wanted out...he promised me safety and promised that you and I would be taken care of...I guess if you're watching this now then that turned out to be false and as cold as it sounds, Gendo's words were correct."_

Again she paused to regain her composure.

"_So I thought about it and I decided to leave this here for you to find. After this message is information on a virus, when we learnt what was to happen to me, Yui and Naoko agreed to create a virus that would attack the alien DNA. It was only to be a last resort, we didn't want to fight or kill but it was understood that we might have to. Hopefully if you have this then you should have Yui's part, Naoko's part was entrusted to her daughter. With all three parts you should be able to deal a significant blow to SEELE. The virus in essence is a machine, it's based on programmable nanomachines...currently we do not have the technology for this but in a few years it will be possible. The idea is that the nanomachines are inserted into one of the alien beings and it self replicates throughout them rendering them immobile...the infection will spread from being to being until an entire craft is infected and brought down...it works by attacking the unique alien organs that create the alien blood we know as LCL."_

She paused for a few moments, glancing around the laboratory and then speaking again.

"_I don't have long left but I want you to know Asuka that I never meant for you to grow up on your own...I only hope my death did not affect you too much and that...well I know this is maybe a bit sadistic but I only hope they allowed me to die quickly so that it did not hurt you too much. Please Asuka for the future of humanity use what you find here. This is my final gift to you, from mother to daughter...remember Asuka that wherever I am, I am always watching over you...I am always with you...I love you Asuka."_

The screen cut to darkness as Asuka felt the tears rolling freely down her cheeks. She didn't make any noise however and just thought about the message her mother had just given her. This was the only thing she had left of her mother, a final gift to help her in her fight. Now she had a way to fight back, now they had some sort of hope.

She wiped her eyes only for them to be replaced with fresh tears with the thought of her mother. Asuka buried her head in her hands and sobbed loudly as her walls came crashing down, for so long she had wanted to hide away the memories of her mother. To get rid of that sickening irony that the only memory she had of her mother was of her inside the hospital room. Now she finally had something, she finally had a sense of closure. For the first time she didn't actually feel ashamed because she was crying, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her.

She stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes and spoke softly as she looked at the screen, _'I won't let you down mother.'_

_22__nd__ November 2015_

**SEELE Bunker**

Keel glanced down at the screen and then around the room at the rest of the committee members. He smiled pitifully as their dead bodies were taken away from the room. They were becoming nothing more then a constant headache to him. Talking about going against the scenario all the time, or asking what happened to their plans. They couldn't see the bigger picture, they were going to become gods over a brave new world.

He smirked as he corrected himself, _he _was going to become god of a new world and not them. He was perfectly willing to let them sit as the committee still and perhaps, if he was feeling generous, give them sections to look over, but their constant complaining meant there would have been significant problems later on. He needed to get rid of problems quickly before they could get any worse. There was now just one problem left to get rid of, the problem that was staring back at him on the screen...the problem of Gendo Ikari and the Evangelion's.

He had been complacent with them, maybe let them get away with a little too much. He should have had them killed when he had the chance, but it didn't matter. He would still catch up with them, there was little they could do besides hope and pray to an old god. Keel was the one with the power and resources now, sure Gendo had a few tricks...making sure his resistance was located somewhere his people could not get near was a stroke of genius...but they would not matter.

"Gendo Ikari...it has been a while."

"Keel...I have nothing to say to you."

"Well I have something to say to you old friend...I'm proposing we end this once and for all. I am offering a truce Gendo, you name your conditions and I'll name mine...you have one chance...if you do not take it then I will have you all hunted down and destroyed...meet us in Tokyo 3 eight days from now. I will send our conditions for meeting one hour from now."

_One hour later_

**Resistance Command Centre**

The five of them were gathered waiting for Keel to contact them again. At the head of the table was Gendo sat directly in front of the small screen, to his immediate right was Fuyutsuki, to his left Shinji. Seated next to Shinji was Asuka and opposite Asuka was Misato. Gendo had wanted them all to be present during Keel's communication, he wanted them all to hear the old man's words so they could plan their next move. There was a general sense of unease amongst all of them, none of them really knew what Keel's terms for meeting would be. Whatever they were they would work in his favour, they would have to be careful.

It was a few moments later when a sound rang out through the centre, signalling the incoming communication. Almost immediately Keel's face appeared on the screen, it still had that same sickening arrogant smile he had worn in their previous meetings.

"_It seems I have an audience, apprehensive are we?"_

"What are your terms?"

"_Straight to the point, I see."_

Keel paused for a moment, _"Eight days from now I propose our two groups meet up to discuss terms for a peaceful solution to all of this. You will listen to these instructions carefully Ikari, failure to comply will result in a swift death for all involved. We will meet in a location marked on a map to be shown after this broadcast, you will send Agents Sohryu, Ikari and Katsuragi to this point. You may also send a number of your resistance to guard them. Once there I will discuss terms with them and them alone, is that understood?"_

"Understood, we agree to your terms."

"_I thought you would."_

Without saying anything else, Keel's image disappeared from the screen only to be replaced by the map and marked location he promised. Gendo noted down the location on the map and turned to discuss what had happened, Shinji however, had different ideas.

"We're actually agreeing to this?"

Gendo nodded and folded his hands up in front of his face, "Yes Shinji we are, we have little choice. This camp only serves to protect us from alien invaders, by that time Keel will no doubt have amassed a small number of human slaves."

Shinji stood and responded his, voice rose slightly, "That doesn't mean we should have agreed, we have the virus details now, why are we even communicating with him?"

"Because the virus won't be ready until after that date, you know that." Asuka explained to him.

"You needn't worry about Katsuragi's life either Shinji, we will have her placed under special protection. Keel will have no objections and it is unlikely that even he will target a pregnant woman."

Shinji sat back down and felt Asuka's hand gripping his as he struggled to come to terms with what was happening. He didn't want to risk Misato's life like this, he knew nothing good could come of it and the others should have known this too. What if fighting broke out? She was hardly in a position to fight back. Everyone was looking at him waiting for him to say something, waiting for him to agree. He felt it was pointless, why would they need to wait for him, their minds were already made. He nodded anyway, "Fine, I'll agree to it but I want Misato guarded properly."

"She will be."

_30__th__ November 2015_

**Ruins of Tokyo 3**

Shinji peered through the windscreen over at the small group getting out of the helicopter, to his left was the place he had once called home. The now derelict and ruined city of Tokyo 3, broken skyscrapers, crashed aircraft and piles of motor vehicles littered the landscape. What had once been a proud and vibrant city had now been laid to ruin in an event which had lasted all of eight days. The small group spread out as Shinji spotted Keel in the middle of them. Immediately he turned to Asuka, voicing his distaste for the situation.

"I don't trust this at all, Keel cannot be trusted. I don't know why my father even agreed to this."

Misato leaned in through the side window and responded, "Your father knows that, he has everything planned out should something go wrong."

"So he said but I still don't like it. Why would Keel agree to meet up here?"

"I don't know but he requested he meets with you and Asuka. Everything is going to be alright, don't worry about it."

"I'll try not to."

Shinji stepped out of the car quickly followed by Asuka. They moved in towards where Keel was waiting for them. The people surrounding Keel immediately aimed their weapons at the two of them but Keel raised his hands signalling them to lower the weapons.

"Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryu, the three of us meet again."

Asuka shouted back at him, "What is it you want Keel? We don't want to fight we want to put an end to this."

"That's good because I'm here to offer just that. We can put an end to this peacefully without unnecessary bloodshed. We can offer you and your people sanctuary, a place to stay and live freely...we'll even let you take other people into your community. We just ask one thing."

Shinji didn't like the sound of it, he didn't want them to live under constant scrutiny, that would be just as bad as the way they were now. He wanted the colonization to stop, to cease for them to leave Earth.

"What would that be?"

Keel pointed past Asuka and Shinji, they turned and saw he was pointing a visibly shocked Misato. His words froze them to the spot, "We want her and the child she carries."

Shinji looked at him defiantly and responded, "That's not going to happen."

"That's a shame, In which case I guess you leave us no choice."

As soon as he finished speaking the first shot was fired, one of the men guarding Shinji fell to the ground. The scene descended into complete chaos as Asuka dragged Shinji towards the nearest cover.

Shinji shouted over the gunfire as he realized Asuka was taking him towards the vehicles, "Asuka, what are you doing?"

"We need to get back to the base!"

"We can't just leave it like this."

Shinji extended his A.T. Field to try to deflect some of the bullets only to find them going straight through. Asuka withdrew her gun and fired at the SEELE Agents moving towards them, she took down two of them before having to reload. Unable to reload before the remaining one got closer she launched herself at the Agent sending them both clattering to the floor.

Shinji stood up firing at more oncoming Agents taking them down with ease before feeling someone grabbing hold of him. He heard Misato's voice shouting at him, "Shinji we have to go come on."

"What about Asuka?"

Asuka shouted back as she fought off the other Agent.

"I'll be fine, get Misato back to the camp. I'll meet you there."

Shinji turned around just as another shot rang out, he threw himself to the floor trying to dodge it but felt it graze past his shoulder. Screaming out in pain he fired back at the Agent bringing them down and then got back up. He grabbed hold of Misato as they both made their way towards the waiting vehicle. Shinji helped Misato into the passenger side but when he withdrew his hand he looked down. He felt sick as he saw the blood tricking down his hand and even more so when he saw the same blood trickling down Misato's jacket.

"Misato, you're..."

She nodded, "I know Shinji...I'll be alright...please...just get us back."

She smiled at him but all he could do was stay frozen to the spot, he was unable to move. She wasn't alright, by the time they got back to the camp Misato would be...he didn't want to think about that. This was the woman who had been pretty much a mother to him for the last thirteen years. He couldn't let her die like this.

"I'm not going to let you die Misato, not here...not like this."

He quickly moved back around to the driver's side and started the car, just as he did so a huge green flash lit up the sky. It was immediately followed by several other green flashes, he looked up as the familiar roar of the alien crafts filled the area. He started up the engine as he saw Asuka running towards the vehicle, she dived into the back and shouted.

"I thought I told you to get out of here."

"I know but Misato...she's..."

He turned to look at her, nausea swept over him as he saw her lifeless body slumped forward.


	30. Sincerely Yours: My Pure Heart For You

_Hey you! _

_Don't tell me there's no hope at all  
Together we stand. _

_Divided we fall. _

_**Pink Floyd – Hey You**_

_3__rd__ December 2015_

**Resistance Base**

He rounded the corner and continued straight on. For a brief moment he paused, thinking he could hear a low rumbling in the distance. Quickly he calmed himself down. There was nothing there, just like the last time he'd thought he'd heard something and the time before that and the time before that. It was just his nerves, he thought to himself, high tension brought on by days of patrolling and drinking too much caffeine.

He stopped as he got to the camp entrance and sat down, yawning as he did so. He wondered how long he would have to keep doing this. Of course he knew the reasons why, after all it had only been a matter of days since the incident in Tokyo 3 and it was firmly etched into his mind. So many questions had arisen from that incident. Some about himself and some about those on the other side, why did they agree to it? Why was Keel so quick to attack? What significance did Misato's child have to this whole scenario? Why did he agree to let Misato join them on that trip? Was it because he really believed Keel wanted a peaceful solution or was it just because that was the easiest option?

It couldn't have been because of Keel. He knew what Keel was like. Shinji had expected it to have been a double cross. After what had happened previously both to himself and others, everyone should have known better. So why did they even agree to it? Was it desperation or was there some other hidden motive that Shinji didn't know about?

_'I've been kept in the dark about everything it seems. They choose to feed me what they want and when they want. When it's convenient for them they'll tell me something or I'll discover what they want me to. I wanted to find the truth but it's not the truth, it's someone else's truth packaged up for me. When I found it it was too late and now, I'm stuck in this, people making me out to be some sort of hero who's going to lead them in a fight against Keel...all because I have some serum I never asked to have in me flowing through my veins...'_

He paused for a moment collecting his thoughts, there was so much running around inside him. He had never really had a moment to stop and think like this. He had either been in meetings, sleeping or patrolling around the camp. He couldn't complain about any of it, he had never complained about things like this. He knew how serious the situation was, so complaining would only make it worse.

_'I've always been like that though, in a less serious situation I never complained...what was the point? I would just get things done to save anybody any hassle. Even when I lived with Misato and she unfairly allocated me the chores...I didn't complain when I had the right too...'_

He smiled weakly, those memories from over thirteen years ago were still pretty vivid in his mind. At the time he had hated being there but now he wished he could go back, to a time before NERV, before Angels and SEELE, before his home had became nothing more than a desolate wasteland.

Shinji turned his head around as he became aware of a presence behind him, he saw Asuka looking down at him. She too was looking just as tired as the rest of them. Asuka, however was masking the look of worry that the rest of them wore. She handed Shinji a cup of coffee and sat down next to him, that was just what Shinji needed...more caffeine.

"Asuka you should be sleep-"

She cut him off quickly, not wanting to be lectured by him, "Yes I know, but my next shift isn't until sometime tomorrow so I thought I'd see how you're doing."

He sighed knowing better than to argue back with her, "I'm all right I guess. Just wondering how long we're going to have to keep this up before the tension in the camp goes back down. Keel can't get to us here...can he?"

She shook her head, "Your father explained that there's something here that serves as a repellent to the aliens. It's what they're using to create the virus, they just needed the instructions that we managed to pick up...but everyone is so tense that they expect an attack at any moment. Us keeping watch helps them calm down, I suppose."

Her voice was unusually calm, there was no 'matter of fact' tone like he had heard so many times before. Maybe the tiredness was affecting her more than she was letting on, or maybe she just didn't care any more.

"I have to admit, I keep on looking out all the time thinking I can hear or see something myself. What happened in Tokyo 3 has got us all on edge a bit I guess."

He hadn't spoke about what had happened in Tokyo 3 to anyone yet, only really choosing to think about it briefly and focus instead on matters such as their next move but the memory was still there. There was no hiding from it, what had happened dealt a serious blow to them and the rest of the movement. They had only lost a small number but it was still significant enough to cause serious panic and there was of course the matter of what had happened to Misato.

Asuka turned to look at him not really sure how to approach the subject, this had been what she wanted to come out here to talk to him about. What had happened in Tokyo 3 and more importantly what had happened to Misato. There had been some things she had noticed about his former guardian that she thought he should know but she knew how important she was too him. If she just blurted this out then she risked angering him which at this point she didn't want. She had only just come to terms with her feelings for him. Luckily for her it was Shinji who approached the subject first.

"Asuka...have you seen Misato today?"

She nodded, "I went to see her earlier today, I told her why you hadn't been able to visit her yet. How your father is keeping you busy with patrolling and meetings."

"I see, she isn't mad is she?"

"More so with herself for agreeing to accompany us to Tokyo 3, she blames herself for putting her baby at risk and for what happened."

"You told her she is being silly obviously?"

She laughed, "Of course, did you expect anything else from me?"

He joined in laughing, "No of course not."

"Actually Shinji...I wanted to talk to you about Misato and about what happened..."

She paused for a moment, waiting for his response. He didn't give any just yet, instead wondering what Asuka was about to say. He would be lying if he said he didn't have any concerns over what had happened with Misato and why Keel seemed to want her and her child. They were the same concerns that he had had when he first learnt that she was pregnant, the same concerns that had been amplified when she had been attacked by Carter.

He finally responded to her, "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

She didn't look at him, instead choosing to look straight ahead, for some reason she felt incredibly nervous approaching this subject. She had never really felt this way talking about anything but because of who she was talking to she felt almost sick with fear.

"It's just...I think there is something happening with her child that we don't know about. Something Keel wanted the other day, something that your father probably knows about."

"I see."

She continued speaking, "I mean you saw what happened, Keel wanted her and the child and when we refused to hand them over he attacked. Misato was attacked directly, her being shot was no accident I saw it happen...and when she was shot I saw..."

She trailed off wondering how Shinji would react to this, "I saw an A.T. Field Shinji, Misato projected an A.T. Field and her wound...she was shot...directly in the shoulder but you look at her now and there's no trace of it. She's made a full recovery, that's impossible."

He nodded taking all of this in, the news of her making a full recovery was certainly new to him and it was only confirming his fear that Misato was in danger. He tried to formulate a response but Asuka spoke again much to his relief.

"I know how much Misato means to you but there's something wrong Shinji, either with her or with her child. I know you don't want to hear this but she is at great risk and I think your father knows why. Keel already knows and has gone to great trouble to get her..."

Finally Shinji responded his throat somewhat dry, "So what do you suggest we do? Are we in danger because of her?"

She nodded, "I think so but I think we're in danger anyway purely because of who and what we are. As for what we should do, I think we need to speak to your father about this, but not just yet. In six days he's promised to take us back into Tokyo 3 there's another lab in there that we need to go to in order to get the final piece for the virus. Once there I think we should find out what we can about Misato...whatever is happening it poses a threat to all of us."

_9__th__ December 2015_

**Tokyo 3 Ruins**

Derelict, devastated, destroyed...just three of the words that came to their minds as they looked towards Tokyo 3. It still looked as it had done a week and a half ago, it's tallest buildings damaged, abandoned vehicles littering the streets, collapsed buildings blocking roads. It was remarkable that all this destruction was brought about in only eight days. As they entered the city itself Shinji wondered if there were any people left within the city or was everybody driven out or taken just as they had been with old Tokyo.

It was incredibly weird walking through those empty streets, at this time of the day they would usually be full of people going back and forth. Tourists, businessmen, shoppers and school children and now it was home to rubble and parked cars. There we no signs of life at all, no sign that anybody had been here since the attacks.

Shinji spoke, making sure he kept his voice hushed, "Do you think there are any survivors inside the city?"

Up front Gendo stopped and shook his head, "Unlikely, Keel will most likely have sent around mop up teams to ensure any survivors were taken by force. They most likely know we're here now and will have sent people to search for us as we speak."

Shinji was surprise by how calm his father sounded, even in a situation like this the man showed no emotion. More so now that he knew they were being hunted down. As they moved a bit further Asuka finally spoke, directly addressing Gendo.

"Why did Keel want Misato?"

Gendo didn't stop moving but he did respond immediately, "Direct and to the point. Keel does not want Katsuragi, it is the child that she carries that he is more concerned with. Katsuragi surviving the impact was not an accident, it was planned. Much like I was the one who chose the candidates for the Evangelion Project it was also I who picked out the lone survivor of the impact. At first it was because they needed a survivor, they needed someone to manipulate to bend the truth. Luckily for them Katsuragi could not speak for two months after the incident, let alone remember it."

Gendo paused for a moment, as Shinji questioned him a bit further.

"So Misato coming into contact with me...that was no accident?"

"Correct, I needed you in a place where I could keep an eye on you but not have any direct contact with you. Katsuragi was an ideal candidate so I ensured you two would come into contact, Keel was intent on taking you away. Moving you to Germany where he could influence your development, fortunately they trusted me so I was able to keep you here away from them."

"She had only just found out she was unable to have children at that time...you knew she would see me and take me in because she felt sorry for me..."

Up ahead Shinji saw Gendo nodding, he replied, his voice as emotionless as ever, "That's right. It is a fact I am not proud of but I had to ensure my son was protected and at least able to grow up somewhat normally."

"So what about Misato, she was supposed to be unable to have children. Why is she suddenly pregnant and why is Keel after her child?"

Gendo paused up ahead at one of the intersections, he looked across at one of the small buildings and then turned back around to Shinji and Asuka. "We're here...that building over there, the basement level there is a laboratory. This key card will get you in. Once inside you will find a computer, activate the software on this disk."

It sounded easy, it sounded too easy. Shinji took the key card and disk from his father and looked across at the building. This couldn't have been it, the virus had been created and all they had to do was activate it.

"Is that it?"

Gendo nodded and began to walk out into the street, before he could get very far Shinji called across to him. "Wait...you didn't answer my question about Misato."

Gendo stopped in his tracks and turned back round, Shinji questioned him again. "Why is Keel after Misato's child, after all that has happened I think you owe me this."

Gendo smirked, "I guess I do...That is-"

He was immediately cut off by the sound of a single gunshot ringing through the air. The three of them quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway and looked around into the centre of the street at the person that had just appeared. It was a single man carrying a handgun and wearing a black suit, he had the same white hair that Kaworou had and Shinji could see the man's red eyes. Was this another Angel? That couldn't have been, all the Angels had been killed.

It looked like Shinji was about to get his answer as the man called across to the three of them, "That is a very good question Agent Ikari. I fear however that you will not be finding out the answer to that question just yet."

The three of them said nothing and remained hidden pressed up against the wall. Shinji looked around and observed the man putting the gun away and looking down at the floor. After a few more moments he spoke again.

"I want to make this simple, you step out of that place you're hiding and you hand over the virus, we then leave you and your people alone. You remain hidden there and we will come after you and take it from you by force. I will give you some time to think it over but please, for your people's sake, do not take too long over it."

Shinji slipped the disk into his inside jacket pocket and slowly stepped out, soon followed by Asuka and Gendo. The three of them stood facing the man who had appeared, they looked at the other three roads joining the intersection and saw more men standing facing inwards towards them. Nine in total, they were completely surrounded.

The man who had spoken previously looked at them and smiled, "I'm pleased you decided to end this peacefully, we do not want to spill any more blood than is necessary."

Shinji did not reply, instead he looked around him again, from Asuka and his father to the man standing in the middle of the intersection and the eight men which accompanied him. Slowly Shinji reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the disk.

"Good move Ikari, now move into the centre and place it down on the floor. Then turn around and go back to them."

Shinji complied, he walked forward not taking his eyes off of the man. He knelt down and placed the disk down and walked away. As he turned around and walked back he made brief eye contact with Asuka. She was glaring at him angrily for turning it over like that, Shinji shrugged and gave a slight smile as he walked back.

"Right, now I want you three to turn around and head in the opposite direction."

Shinji nodded and turned around, he slowly began to walk down the street making sure to not look behind him. Asuka and Gendo followed him both equally stunned as to how he had given the disk away that easily. They moved a bit further down before Asuka quickly moved around stopping Shinji in his tracks.

"What the hell was that Ikari? After all we've worked for, you just handed it over like that?"

Shinji could sense the anger in her voice despite her quietness. He shrugged and smiled much to Asuka's disgust.

"I did what had to be done Asuka, they were going to kill us where we stood if we didn't. What use would we have been if we were dead?"

"You idiot we still could have done something, you could have made a run for the lab. Now they have it, now we have nothing."

"No Asuka, you're wrong."

He turned around and looked at the nine men, they had moved in towards the disk and were facing away from them. Shinji smiled again and continued walking down the road quickly ducking into another alleyway. This time it was his father who questioned him.

"Sohryu is correct, that was our only chance."

"So what was I supposed to do? Make a run for it and risk the lives of everyone back at the camp? They were waiting for this opportunity, if we made one wrong move that would have been it, they would have sent a signal to Keel and they would have stormed the camp capturing everyone there. Keel is probably monitoring us now, that's why I did this."

Asuka glared at him replying, she couldn't get over what he had done. She never thought he would do something like this. Her voice was lowered but still venomous. "What if you're wrong? You just handed over our future."

"No Asuka, I don't mean that."

He paused for a few moments before moving back out into the street and staring straight ahead, the men were still visible but had moved down the road slightly. Shinji reached into his pocket and drew out a small remote.

"I mean this..."

He pressed the button on the remote and as soon as he did the area where the men were walking erupted in a ball of flame. The three of them looked on as the dust from the small explosion settled leaving on the men's dead bodies and debris scattered everywhere. Shinji quickly moved forward and turned to Asuka.

"We need to get there quickly, we really don't have much time if they definitely know we're here now."

A part of Shinji was shocked that it had worked, it has only been a last minute decision to have a fake disk made and fitted with an explosive but it had paid off. He knew Keel would have been watching them and he knew they'd want the virus from them. They moved forward back into the intersection but were stopped by another gun shot, Shinji expanded his A.T. Field and quickly turned towards the source raising his own gun and firing back. It was one of the men, he had... gotten up and regenerated somehow.

"Not a smart move Ikari, now we have to use force."

Each of the other nine men had now gotten up and had also regenerated themselves. It was just the same as with Zeruel except now there were nine of them to content with. Without thinking Shinji charged forward at the first man tackling him directly into the wall of the nearest building. Without giving the man a chance to fight back he aimed two shots right where the man's heart would be.

_'That's one.'_

Shinji looked around, the remaining eight were moving back onto the intersection as Asuka and his father took cover. Shinji quickly dived over and joined them, Asuka looked at him taking out her own gun.

"You've took down one, there's eight left. That's four each."

Shinji nodded and looked at his father, "Right, me and Asuka will go back out. Can you provide cover for us?"

Gendo smiled and removed his glasses, "Of course, be quick though, they will regenerate."

With those words Shinji and Asuka leapt up from there position and began to run towards the remaining eight. They each fired in front of them making sure their A.T. Fields were expanded, Asuka leapt at her first target, her knee connecting with his face. She leapt over him firing a shot into his chest and then quickly aiming another shot at another oncoming target.

_'Two in one go, this will be easy.'_

She felt someone swinging her round and was caught with a backhand from one of the other men. He connected with a well placed kick to the gut and then followed up with another hand across her face. She fell to the floor and quickly moved out of the way before he tried to drive his knee into her face. She wiped the blood she now felt trickling down her chin away and dived at the man, tackling him to the floor. Using her A.T. Field to keep him in place and she fired two shots into his chest, silencing him.

She looked across at Shinji to see how he was handling things, he had just taken down his fourth one. She looked around trying to find where her fourth target was and then found him, she froze up when she saw where he was. Shinji turned round too and saw it, he screamed out but it was too late. It was almost like it happened in slow motion. She looked on as Shinji dived forward towards the man before his father's body had even hit the ground.

Shinji was like a rabid animal, he tackled the man to the floor delivering blow after blow to the person's body. Face, stomach, anywhere was a target for him. Asuka screamed out to him to stop but it was to no avail, soon a pool of LCL had began to trickle from the man as Shinji continued pounding away at him. She ran over and dragged Shinji away from him and pinned a struggling Shinji to the ground.

Just a few feet away from them lay the dead body of Gendo, she gently allowed Shinji to get to his knees and looked in his tear stained eyes. He looked back at her for a moment before throwing himself at her, holding her tightly. She looked around at the scene, nine dead bodies and that of Shinji's father. So much for no bloodshed, so much for this being easy.

She whispered in Shinji's ear as he knelt sobbing into her shoulder, "Shinji...I'm sorry it happened like this..."

He withdrew his arms and looked around himself, he scrambled over towards Gendo and looked down at him. The man was gone already, no final words, no last ditch attempt to fight back. The man who had sacrificed so much to get to this point had been taken away so easily. Shinji understood his father's actions, he didn't condone them, he didn't like them but he understood. The man had been through so much and sacrificed so much. His wife had been taken from him, he had to give Shinji away so that he could not be in any danger. For each time he thought his father had abandoned him he had been there, at first it may have seemed like he was being manipulated but at the same time he was watching, ensuring nothing would happen.

Shinji didn't have much time to process these thoughts as Asuka put her hand on his shoulder and whispered into his ear again.

"Shinji...take the key card and the disk. Make a run for the lab, we have company again."

Shinji looked around wondering what she meant and he saw it immediately. The nine people who had just been taken down were getting up again. Their wounds not quite healed , but still, they were up and alive. Shinji stood and prepared himself only for Asuka to call to him again.

"Shinji...you need to go."

He shook his head, "No I can't leave you, you can't take on all nine of them!"

"I don't care, if we both die we lose...if one of us dies then we still have a chance."

She dived at the nearest person taking him down again and silencing him for the third time. She shouted across at Shinji.

"Go now! I'll cover you."

She expanded her A.T. Field again sending another of the attackers flying backwards and stopped to reload her gun. During this time she never took her eyes off of Shinji, his destination was only a couple of metres away and he knew he should but how could he leave Asuka out here like this?

"Asuka...I can't."

"Shinji this isn't the time, go now!"

She took out another attacker just as the others started to get up, he had to make his decision now. He took another brief glance at Asuka and then to the doorway leading to the lab. He could do this, she could handle herself until he returned. He looked back to his dead father and whispered quietly.

"_Thank you...father."_

**Laboratories**

He ducked into the building and shut the door behind him, leaving Asuka to deal with the nine attackers. Something inside of him was screaming to go back out there and help her, the other part of him knew what had to be done. That the only way he could help her was to proceed down to the laboratories and insert this disk. He quickly made his way down the corridor and into a stairwell leading down to the laboratories. There it was, the door he needed to go through to end this, it all seemed so simple.

He withdrew the key card and placed it through the scanner, the door opened granting him access to the laboratory. After taking only a matter of steps he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw in front of him. A huge cylindrical tank with a computer terminal hooked up to it. Around it were several smaller tanks he could not see into. It was what was inside the main tank that scared him because he knew that it was...or that it should have been impossible.

He stepped up to the computer terminal and inserted the disk, waiting for it to load up and trying to keep his eyes from what was floating in the LCL contained in the tank. He couldn't help it though, every moment he found himself looking at what was there. There was no mistaking it, even with the mask obscuring it's face, even with the body obscured by a tangle assortment of wires...she was there.

Finally the program booted up and he could focus on something else other then what was floating in the tank. The program had a very basic text driven interface, it gave him two options, 'Yes' or 'No'. He typed Yes and then the program began to run, text rolled by on the screen as the machinery in the lab began to start up.

_/----------------------------------------------_

_/Loading Program_

_/PROJECT-E_

_/INT LCL DRAINAGE_

_/TANK PRESSURE 100_

_/87_

_/64_

_/59_

_/42_

_/23_

_/16_

_/15_

_/8_

_/4_

_/0_

_/DRAINAGE COMPLETE_

_/BEGIN ARTIFICAL CORE INJECTION_

_/SUBJECT NAME: AYANAMI, REI_

_/SUBJECT OCCUPATION: NERV AGENT_

_/BEGIN ARTIFCIAL SOUL INSERTION_

_/----------------------------------------------_

Shinji could only watch as the machinery sprang to life, there was a loud whirring noise as the LCL in the tank drained out, flooding the nearby tanks. Stumbling back he looked on as the wires surrounding Rei's body untangled themselves leaving only her naked form held in place by the mask she was wearing.

He looked down as more text filled the screen.

_/----------------------------------------------_

_/CORE INJECTION: COMPLETE_

_/ARTIFICAL SOUL INSERTION: COMPLETE_

_/MEMORY RECOVERY: COMPLETE_

_/----------------------------------------------_

Core Injection, Soul Insertion, Memory Recovery...the text stayed fixed on screen as more whirring was heard from the tank and the machine. Shinji observed as Rei's body twitched as each process completed. Was this what he father had wanted him to find? Was Rei the weapon they were supposed to use?

_/----------------------------------------------_

_/DOWNLOADING OBJECTIVE_

_/INITIATIVE-S8472_

_/----------------------------------------------_

There was another pause on the screen as Shinji continued looking on as Rei was being awakened in front of his eyes. This made no sense...she was supposed to have died hundreds of miles away from here. What was she doing in this laboratory?

_/----------------------------------------------_

_/OBJECTIVE DOWNLOADED_

_/SUBJECT AWAKENING COMPLETE  
/SEEK OUT INSTRUMENTALITY_

_/----------------------------------------------_

Instrumentality? What was Instrumentality? Was this what was supposed to happen, was this supposed to help them? Rei waking up and then some process called Instrumentality? The mask covering Reis face lifted and the tank opened ,allowing her to step out. She looked across at Shinji either unaware or simply not concerned that she was not clothed. Shinji was barely able to speak as he addressed her. His only thoughts being what the hell was going on.

"Ayanami...you're...I thought you were dead...you..."

She did not respond instead she simply looked at him and then with one swift movement she expanded her A.T. Field knocking him off of his feet and sending him flying back. He quickly scrambled to his feet and went after her. She spun around and stopped him, sending him flying back again.

This time it was accompanied by a brilliant flash of light, Shinji got back up and looked at where she had stood. Ayanami had vanished, she had attacked him and then vanished in that flash of light. Just as he thought more about it he remembered Asuka up top. He had left her to deal with nine attackers and she hadn't followed him in yet.

Shinji sprinted back out of the building back to where he and Asuka had been attacked only to find the area completely deserted. He looked around but there was nothing there, none of the attackers, no Asuka...not even his father's body. Had they all vanished just like Ayanami had a minute ago?

"What took you so long?"

He span around at the sound of the voice and saw Asuka emerging from a nearby alleyway. She looked badly injured, her face was cut and her shirt was torn. Shinji could see a mixture of blood and LCL dripping from wounds on her Arms and near her eye. He ran over embracing her, not caring that she screamed out in pain when he wrapped his arms around her. She shoved him off and nursed her injuries muttering to herself.

"Well if they didn't hurt before they do now...what happened down there Shinji? They were attacking relentlessly, I kept on taking them down but they kept on getting back up and then...I don't know if it was the blood loss or what but...Ayanami appeared and expanded some sort of A.T. Field and then...they were gone in a flash of light."

Shinji nodded wiping his eyes, "I know...she attacked me, that was what was inside the lab Asuka...Ayanami was there in some sort of tank..."

"Are you sure?"

He looked at her, "Yes...of course I am, we need to get back Asuka. Whatever happened it can't be good."

He took a few steps forward before Asuka called after him, "Shinji...I'm sorry about what happened to your father..."

He paused and responded his voice emotionless, "I know."

_10__h__ December 2015_

**Command Centre**

It was well past midnight when they finally arrived back at the camp. Asuka threw the bag she was carrying down on the floor and paused at the entrance. They had to ditch the car they were driving some time ago much to her annoyance. The rest of the journey back they had walked mostly in silence only really speaking to say when one needed to rest or to utter something else.

She didn't mind it being that way though, all she wanted to do was get back, confirm that they had completed their mission and then rest. She knew though that that would be impossible, they hadn't completed the mission. Shinji's father had been killed in the process, Ayanami had somehow been restored to life and for all she knew there were still nine people with advanced Evangelion serum flowing through them out there.

"Asuka, I..."

She turned around just in time to catch Shinji before he fell to the ground. She quickly hooked her arms under his shoulders and gently guided him to the floor laying him down. Exhaustion she told herself, he was just exhausted. Blood loss, a couple of miles walk and narrowly escaping nine genetically enhanced freaks...anyone would go down from all that.

If that was the case then why did she find herself trembling with fear that he might not wake up? Why was she on the verge of breaking down, fearing that he was gone? She took a few deep breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes, telling herself that he would wake up. That he had just collapsed from all the strain but something inside her wasn't letting her think that way. She turned and placed her hands on his shoulders and began shaking him.

"Don't do this...wake up damn it."

She shook him more violently as she felt tears streaming down her face. Every part of her just wanting him to wake back up. She didn't care if he was exhausted, she needed him there with her.

"Don't leave me like this, please...don't leave me..."

She stopped shaking him as she saw his eyes open slowly, he looked directly into her own eyes and smiled.

"Sorry."

She laid down next him and laid her head on his chest, "Idiot..."

"I know."

"I wish this could be over, that we could just have...semi normal lives again."

She thought about what she had said, what would she be doing if this wasn't happening? Would she be working with Shinji? Would they have even met?

Shinji was thinking about it too, "If this didn't happen we wouldn't have met though, I suppose that's one good thing to come out of it."

"Maybe but it isn't exactly convenient, either of us could die any time from now. We're pretty much the only free thinking humans left on Earth aside from those inside the camp."

She paused for a moment, thinking about it a bit more, "You know even if we had have met and still been assigned to each other what would we be doing? We'd probably be stuck investigating some random paranormal occurrence in a Tokyo 3 suburb. I'd think you were an idiot with your theories and you'd think I was the closed minded sceptic who isn't willing to listen. We'd solve the case and then both go home to our pathetic lives..."

Shinji chuckled, "Yeah that sounds about right..."

Immediately the chuckling stopped as the events of the day came back to him. "I just wish..."

He paused finding it difficult to get the words out, "I wish I could have gotten to know my father a bit more, I always thought I hated him because I didn't know why he abandoned me and why he placed all this on me."

She didn't respond yet, waiting to see if he would say anything else. When she wanted to respond she found that she couldn't. What could she say to him? He had only just that day saw his father shot dead in the middle of the street.

"He died for the cause he worked hard for Shinji. He was dedicated to it, I know its cold but he died so that you could get into that lab and insert that software."

"I suppose but...what did we achieve with that...Ayanami appearing to us and then vanishing. It doesn't feel like we have achieved anything."

"I know what you mean, I was at least expecting someone to greet us when we got back. What a disappointment that was."

For the first time the two of them sat up and looked into the camp. Every light in the camp except for those illuminating the entrance was off and there was complete silence. It was strange how none of them had even noticed it before. They had been so preoccupied they had never bothered to look inside. Shinji quickly got to his feet and took out his flashlight.

"Asuka, you check the western quarters I'll look at the eastern ones. Something isn't right here."

She nodded and also took out her flash light and headed off in the opposite direction to him. Shinji quickly made his way over to the quarters and peered inside aiming his flash light at the various bunks there. Just as he suspected everyone inside was gone, their belongings left scattered but the people themselves vanished.

He turned away and went back over towards the camp where Asuka was stood waiting for him, he called across to her. "They've all gone, no one has left it's like they were there then just...vanished."

"You don't think Keel could have-"

He cut her off, "No I don't, if Keel had been here I think we'd know about it. He'd use some of them as a bargaining chip or leave some sort of message. There's no sign of forced entry or anything though..."

"I noticed that, it looks like they just...disappeared."

Shinji got ready to respond but was promptly interrupted by a terrifying roar screaming across the sky accompanied by a white flash. He turned towards the source of the flash and saw it was coming from the direction of where SEELE's bunker was. It was a huge cross shaped explosion, he saw several more flaring up next to it before everything turned white around him. He felt his body being forced upwards but he didn't try to resist. Instead he allowed himself to be taken to wherever this force wanted him to be.

_-------------_

When Shinji opened his eyes again he found himself in a white room or, to be precise not so much a room, but a white space, stretching on into eternity. He took a few steps and his footsteps echoed loudly into the distance. What had just happened to him? This was so different to when he had been taken before. The force pulling him, the cross shaped explosion and this white space, was this what was supposed to happen when he loaded up that program?

"_That is correct, Ikari."_

Shinji spun around at the sound of the voice and then saw her, she was only a matter of metres away from him and was wearing the same black catsuit he had seen her in when they first met. The strange thing about her was that she was floating, only a matter of inches from the ground but she was.

Shinji questioned her, "What is this place? Did I die?"

Ayanami shook her head and moved towards him.

"You did not die Ikari...this is the Instrumentality that you started when you awakened me. This is what your father wanted you to achieve. The process in which every human soul is taken from the body and connected."

This didn't make any sense, she had just said that the soul had left the body but...he could still see his body. He could still move and use his body, it was still there and it was still a part of him. Besides which even if that was the case how could the soul survive without the body?

"Your body has been harvested and inserted into the collective, as has Sohryu's and every other living human. It is still alive and functioning, your soul has simply ascended for this moment in time."

He turned to her and shouted back angrily, "That wasn't meant to happen, we were supposed to avoid this. We were supposed to be freeing humanity! You mean my fathers plan was for this to happen anyway?"

"That is correct."

Shinji dashed forward and grabbed hold of Rei's shoulders shaking her violently, "He lied to me then, there was no virus was there?"

"Your father's scenario was carried out as planned, he did not lie to you."

Shinji shouted, "If he didn't lie then why am I here now? Why aren't I back at the camp? Why is every other human going through this process?"

"Because that was a requirement Ikari, you and Sohryu are the only two humans going through this process."

Shinji calmed himself down and released Rei from his grip shaking his head, "So is there some way to return, is there a way to go back?"

Rei did not answer his question directly instead she told him more about this strange process. "I cannot answer that, it is not for me to say. This process was designed to provide an idyllic environment for the souls of those harvested."

She paused before continuing, "While the bodies themselves are used as slaves the minds and souls are taken through this process where each one enters their own perfect world. All my race seeks is perfection for all species across the galaxy. While you may not agree with their methods, you cannot disagree with their goals."

Shinji was about to argue back when he noticed one thing in Rei's short speech, she had referred to them as 'my race'.

"Your race?"

"Allow me to correct myself, the being you see in front of you is the being you know as Rei Ayanami. Rei Ayanami was created shortly before what you came to know as the Impact, she was created as a vessel to hold the soul of the second angel. The Angel known as Lilith, I stand before you now as both Lilith and Rei Ayanami, we are both one and the same entity."

"Why? If you have the force and power you do have then why didn't you just take us by force? Why all the lies and secrets, why not a full on attack?"

"That was not a choice of mine, my race was split into two factions, each with similar goals. We came to your planet thousands of years ago. There was a war which lead to both myself and the representative of the other faction, the being known as Adam, being placed in stasis until we were discovered by SEELE. Adam struck a deal with SEELE to split power and colonize this planet by force."

She paused for a moment, "My side do not desire the same, we offer races a choice between ascending and not. If people desire they may return at any time. I was found by your father and was placed into this vessel. I lived as Rei Ayanami for a short time coming to terms with who I was and finding out about humanity. It was not an easy process as you can imagine, at many times I was unable to recall my identity as Lilith and often found myself longing for something more as a human."

"But Rei...you..."

"Died?"

She paused, "Yes I did, however the soul of what you know as an angel is transferable, I was simply transported into this body and awaited being awakened by your father. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it was you who had activated the clone."

"You attacked me though and then you disappeared."

"I know and for that I apologize, I was disorientated and I needed to..."

"You needed to harvest those remaining on Earth?"

She nodded and smiled, "That is correct."

Shinji walked forward but was blocked by her A.T. Field, almost immediately the scene around him began to shift. It was no longer the white space but instead what he recognised to be a small suburb in Tokyo 3. He tried to turn around but found he was no longer in his body but was instead just an observer.

"What is this?"

"_This is what your heart desires Shinji Ikari, this is your perfect existence."_

He watched on as he saw a group of people on the front lawn of a house, three women and an equal number of men. He recognised two of them immediately but the third one he couldn't quite figure out who she was just yet. He heard Ayanami's voice again as he tried to remember.

"_Strange that you do not recognise the third one, she is the person for which Ayanami's body is based off of. She is the one who guided you into trusting your father."_

"My mother...why is she alive?"

"_This is what your heart created, a perfect world where your mother never died, your world where you cannot be hurt...where you do not feel that pain you do every day...where you were never abandoned and never had the fate of the world placed on you."_

Shinji watched a bit more as the other version of himself stood with his arms around Asuka. It looked peaceful, Misato was there alongside Kaji, his father was there along with his mother. It was as had been described his ideal world, a world where he could not be hurt but why was she showing him this? Did she want him to just accept this? It was tempting but at the same time it wasn't real.

"This is wrong..."

"_You do not like this?"_

He watched a few moments longer, trying to decide if he really thought it was wrong. He was tempted, and it most certainly seemed real. He could feel the breeze against him, he could smell the air and the faint smell of barbecued food drifted over to him. The voices and the laughter from the people gathered, from the family...his family, rang in his ears.

"I...don't know what to think."

"_It is what is inside your heart which created this world Ikari.. your dreams and desires helped to shape this. Everything you wanted is here, family, friends, a proper life..."_

A car pulled up to the front of the house, Shinji felt tears well up in his eyes when he saw the person who stepped out.

"Touji..."

"_Yes...in this world there was no Evangelion project...NERV still exists and you still work for NERV but there was no colonization project, no SEELE, which means Touji never died."_

It was becoming more real for him, the idea of leaving it all behind and accepting this. Shinji thought about his life so far, lies...manipulation...abandonment...loss...he had never had nor was likely to have a good or a happy life. The people who he cared for were dead or likely to die, if he went back then what would happen? They'd just spend time running away, here...well it wasn't real but...it was as good as.

He was about to take a few more steps across when he caught this worlds version of Asuka looking over at where he was. She was staring through him, Shinji knew she couldn't see him but for a moment he could have sworn he saw her expression change. Disgust...was that it? He thought about Asuka, the real Asuka...not this fantasy Asuka. What would Asuka tell him right now? If she knew he was considering this? Considering accepting a false reality? She'd hate him for it, and in the end he'd only end up hating himself even more.

"_You are still having doubts?"_

"I like it but...it isn't real, even though I desire this, even though I want it...it isn't real. It's just a facsimile, it's fake. I'd just be running away if I accepted this and I've done too much of that. The Asuka there...she might accept me but the real Asuka she would never accept me if I did something like that."

"_You would rather live where you can be hurt than where you cannot?"_

"I guess that's correct...because at least then I know what's real and what isn't. Knowing that it wasn't real would just cause me more pain because no one there would be the real people."

The scene shifted again and Shinji found himself back in the white space he had been in earlier, Ayanami was stood in front of him again.

"It was just as your father said. You would be strong enough to reject it."

Shinji looked around, confused as to her meaning.

"There was no virus Shinji, the virus was me. I am the one with the power to end this, I can send you back to where you want to be. I can end this process of instrumentality for everyone if you desire it."

"I do."

She smiled, "You must understand though that not everyone will feel the same way you do. The majority will wish to remain in their perfect worlds. These people will over time become your enemies as my enemies use them to fight against you. You must be prepared to make choices you may not like."

"I understand."

"People will only return to you if they desire it, and even then the rebuilding process will be slow. I will have my people assist you as there will be a backlash. Thanks to the serum that was developed this process will happen across my enemies' ships as well. You must be sure you want this."

He nodded understanding her completely, there was no turning back now.

"I do want this."

As soon as he finished speaking the scene shifted again, cross shaped light flared up around him as he felt his body being forced away again. Pain shot through each part of his body as if he was being torn apart and slowly stitched back together.

_'What...what is this?'_

The pain was too much, he felt his body lifted but he wasn't able to find out where too. Closing his eyes he allowed himself to pass out.

_-------------_

Asuka blinked and found herself looking into an eternal white space. A room what appeared to be completely white and stretched on forever. She reached into her jacket for her hand gun but found her pockets completely empty. She turned around at the sound of a familiar voice.

"_Sohryu I do not wish to hurt you, I wish to speak with you."_

The voice sent a chill down Asuka's spine because it belonged to a person that Asuka had up until now thought was dead. Even with the sighting earlier it still scared her, the fact that she could hear Ayanami and could now see her. Asuka stumbled backwards with fear.

"Ayanami you…you're...how?"

"There is much I need to explain to you Sohryu, this is the process of Instrumentality which yourself and Ikari started. The process in which every human soul has ascended from their bodies and connected in one collective entity. Each soul living peacefully in their desired world, yourself and Ikari have been disconnected from this process. Shinji because he is the one who began the process...yourself however...your heart rejected it from the beginning."

"My...my heart rejected it?" Asuka stammered out.

"That is correct, your only desire is to go back and not to live within a perfect world. You desire immediately to go back to a world where there is pain and suffering."

She thought about what she had just been told, it was true. Given the choice she would reject it immediately, she wouldn't run away like that. The thought of it made her sick even though she knew she had in the past tried to convince herself that her problems did not exist.

"If my desire is to go back then why am I here?"

"Because you are only one half, both you and Shinji must agree to allow humanity to return for you to successfully return."

"So why are you here Ayanami?"

"I am here because I am the centre, I am the gateway through with all souls pass. What you see in front of you is the human vessel designated Rei Ayanami but this vessel contains the soul of the second Angel, Lillith."

"You...you're an Angel?"

"That is correct, my designation by your standards would be the second but I was born at the same time as the one known as Adam. I am the leader of another faction working against the ones you have seen. We arrived on this planet thousands of years ago but a war forced both me and Adam into stasis until we were discovered by SEELE."

She stopped speaking for a moment as the scene shifted to an unfamiliar setting. From what she could see it appeared to be a tomb of sorts, from the markings and ornaments she would guess Egyptian but there were many other markings there unfamiliar to her.

"What is this place?"

"This is where they held me for thousands of years until I was discovered by Gendo Ikari and awoken. This is a recreation of the tomb from my own memories."

"Egyptian?"

"No, but many of the things here did find their way into the Egyptian empire. No, this is a place that sank before the Egyptian empire. A place spoke of only in your legends..."

Asuka turned and looked at her sceptically, "You can't be serious?"

"I do not understand why you have trouble believing this, considering all that you have seen."

Asuka laughed, "I guess the idea of a sunken continent is still a bit hard for me to believe especially considering that you're telling me that your people have been here since before that time."

"Understandable but my origin is not important, I needed to show you this so that you could see that I am on your side."

"If you were on our side you would have prevented this and not brought us here. Instead you..."

"Took the rest of the survivors and did the same to them as our enemies did? I know Sohryu, but we had no choice, for this to occur every human had to undergo this process. It was the only way, I promise you will return. Shinji is currently making the decision. I regret I have to offer him the choice but I am sure he will make the right decision."

She paused again but before Asuka could speak she started speaking again, "There is one thing I would like to mention to you. One thing that has not been cleared up, the subject of Katsuragi and her child."

"Why did Keel want her child?"

"He saw the child as a threat, that child is the first of a new line of humans. Genetically engineered to be resistant to disease, to be resistant to us and to be very much like yourself and Ikari. It was a desperation manoeuvre by Gendo which may have placed you all in unnecessary danger but it was one that he deemed necessary."

Asuka could barely hide her anger, she had begun to actually trust Gendo but now hearing this she didn't know any more. Her thoughts wandered across to Shinji, did he know about this too now? If their minds were connected there was the chance he might know about it. She turned to Ayanami and questioned her further.

"Why a child though, why not more people like me and Shinji who were already grown? Surely Keel would have known a baby would be unable to fight."

"That is correct but Keel was paranoid, the child was a potential threat so he wanted it. That child though is not alone, there are more in the world that will be like it. A new race of humanity, however unfair it may seem you and Shinji must ensure that they survive. When you return Keel and the others will hunt you down, they will use the bodies of those humans that did not return against you and when they do you must be ready to fight back."

It sounded so strange, so bizarre that this person...that Rei was talking to her like this. This was not the Rei that Asuka had known but at the same time she could see it was. She was still there but something else had taken hold. Asuka nodded.

"We'll fight back, we've came too far to give up now."

**-------------**

**Shoreline**

Shinji opened his eyes and looked out across the sea, it was still night time but he could see huge white flashes in the sky. In the distance he thought he could make out the faint image of Rei Ayanami but when he blinked it was gone.

_'Must have been my imagination...'_

He slowly turned his head to the right and saw, in the distance, another figure lying down. Her red hair scattered around her head. Shinji scrambled to his feet but found himself unable to carry his own weight. He resorted to crawling over towards her and knelt beside her.

_'Asuka...is this really her? Is this real, am I actually back?'_

He reached out with his hand and gently stroked the woman's forehead, it was warm and it was definitely real. She didn't stir though, he decided for a moment just to leave her and let her rest. He looked out across the shore and into the distance. Everything was silent, it didn't seem like there was a living thing for miles around but he was fine with that. They would return in time and when they did he would be ready. They would rebuild and they would continue to fight back.

He took a brief look at Asuka again and smiled before laying himself down next to her, he put his arm round her and held her close to him. He didn't know how she would take it when she did wake up but at the moment he didn't care. She was all he wanted right now, to be close to him and to be next to him.

Ayanami's words were still etched into his mind though, '_You must understand though that not everyone will feel the same way you do. The majority will wish to remain in their perfect worlds. These people will over time become your enemies as my enemies use them to fight against you. You must be prepared to make choices you may not like.'_

He thought about it, would he be able to fight against people he once knew if it came down to it? Would he be able to defend himself, he had already seen situations in the past where he hadn't been able to and it has cost people their lives. Would he be faced with decisions like that again?

"You know Shinji...if you keep thinking like that then you won't be ready."

He jumped a little when he heard Asuka's words, he must not have been aware that he was thinking out loud nor must he have been aware that she had woken up.

"How long have you been awake?"

She grinned, "Since you put your arm around me...I would have said something but I knew you weren't going to rape me so I didn't mind. We're the only two here...we're the last two people on Earth for this moment in time."

"I know...it's unusual. They'll return though...I made sure they would...in time they'll all return to us."

She reached up and kissed him, taking him by surprise, he returned the kiss wrapping his arms around her and gently stroking her body. She pulled away and whispered too him "Congratulations Shinji."

**A/N: **Wow thirty chapters and it's finally over. Not to mention this is my longest chapter ever so that's pretty good. This has taken up a good portion of my time over the past year or so but it's been worth it. I loved writing this, making improvement with every chapter I wrote and seeing people's reactions to it. The ending was difficult to write as you would imagine, I'd like to think I did a good job with it and that the people reading it will enjoy it.

Before I go on there are two people I'd really really like to thank for this. The first of which would be my girlfriend Charly. Not really much to say really, she had supported the fic and read a good chunk of it. She is also responsible for drawing the fic's version of Asuka and Shinji. If you would like to see it then it is available for viewing on her DeviantArt page, her username there is LadyMyrina and the picture is simply titled conspiracy. This is something she didn't have to do but did for me, and I really appreciate it. For being so awesome and supportive, I'm dedicating this chapter specifically to her.

The second of which would be my pre reader Ste, the same guy who pre read my previous fic Strange New Worlds. Ste is an awesome guy who has had to put up with my endless number of grammatical mistakes and confusion over the then/than. He had taken time out of his life to read this when he could be doing something better. I really appreciate that and I'm glad to have a friend like that.

Third of which is the cheesy one, all the people who had read this fic and reviewed and everything. J.G, Dartz, Himonky, Hououza and anyone else who has commented on it. Thank you so much, your words and comments mean a lot to me and any advice and criticism that was given was taken on board and employed.

Anyway like I said I hope you enjoyed this fic, please don't hesitate to leave a review or contact me.


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